By Janet A. Sesay
The most confident and reliable mobile company in Sierra Leone, Orange Company, has on yesterday, Thursday, 18th April, 2024, officially launched the partnership between Orange Money and MikashBoks to ensure access to formal financial services.
The event was done at the Orange Company’s Conference Hall at Hill Station in Freetown and graced by workers from Access Bank, Care International, directors from different institutions among others. This partnership is aimed at turbocharging the drive to ensure access to formal financial services for all. Only two out of every ten adults in Sierra Leone have access to financial services, concerning statistics highlighting the country’s need for improved financial inclusion.
Joseph Tengeh, Head of Strategy, Partnership and Marketing at Orange Money Company, while giving an overview of the press conference, said they have tied the knot between Orange Money and MikashBoks.
He Orange Company believes in partnerships with whosoever comes on board, adding that to see how best they can dive into financial inclusion they are ready to partner with whosoever has lucrative ideas. Orange, he continued, believes in supporting people in terms of savings.
He encouraged everybody to join hands in this partnership by supporting and celebrating with the partners to ensure that Orange Money and MikashBoks grow, promising that every Sierra Leonean will enjoy the partnership.
David Mansaray, the Chief Executive Officer of Orange Money Sierra Leone, in his statement, said he is excited about the partnership, adding that the concept of the cash box has been there since the last century and it has been widely practiced not only in Sierra Leone but also in Africa and the rest of the world.
He furthered that what is new here is the concept of digitalising the process and that is why their partnership with MikashBoks has been one of their dreams coming true.
Mansaray reminded that long ago if people wanted to set up a cash box they had to go to a carpenter to build it for them, but now they just need to have a phone and the person can just go into that phone and open a cash box and in that cash box the person can save money, adding that the person can use the money at any time he or she uses “save” as an option.
He said if the person wants to save the money for a purpose he or she saves it as “don’t touch the money” and it will be kept and the person will earn interest for saving, adding that it is a very good thing.
Mansaray said the other benefits involved via which customers can profit is that they have moved from the informal to the formal sector, which means in the past when people used to save money in cash boxes their credit status was only known to two people, adding that if a person wants to borrow money from the bank the information of the person’s saving history is personal and the bank cannot use it because that person’s credit rating is very low including that the person will not have access to more money.
The Orange Money CEO went on that MikashBoks has a digital history of financial transactions and this information can be accessed by other financial institutions, adding that it provides rooms to individuals.
He said it is a very good option to bring people from the informal sector to the formal sector, adding that once a person is operating in the formal sector the person will have access to credit.
Mansaray furthered that debt is not a bad thing only that a person should not take too much debt that he or she cannot sustain. He said if a person taking the debt can sustain it, the person should use that money to achieve something.
The CEO of Orange Money said it is not altogether bad to have debts but that the person should ensure that he or she can finance the debts, adding that if a person cannot finance a debt he or she should not apply for it.
He stated further that with this partnership a person can simply save, earn interest, have access to loans and do many other financial transactions.
Mr. Mansaray said the partnership is a good thing for everyone as it increases financial inclusion in the nation, adding that for Orange Money it benefits them as they have more customers on their platform and at the end of the day they are in for the profit and making more money.
He furthered that MikashBoks has more objectives than profitability as it helps them in various shapes or forms.
Orange Money CEO David Mansaray said for customers it provides additional options for access to finance and it is a win-win situation for all.
He said he is very excited about this partnership and thanked the technical team and everyone who worked tirelessly to see it come to fruition, adding that while doing the reintegration they had to fight but it is now available and people can use Orange Money to pay.
Mansaray assured that the world will know about what Orange Money and MikashBoks are doing.
Kelvin Logan, Customer Support at MikashBoks, in his statement, thanked the Orange management for making this partnership. He said MikashBoks is a financial mobile app which makes it easier and safer for individuals to save money and interest by using one or two options which is the “osusu” device as well as the “personal cash box” which is individually done.
He furthered that the idea of “osusu refund” came about when their founder, Mr. Saltee Masalay, was forced to drop out of university in the United States due to financial constraints.
He said that MikashBoks was not built up in a day or two but it has been a process over the years with due diligence and a lot of work put in place. He added that while Masalay was at the university his mother contributed to “osusu” for several years just to save up money for his fees.
He went on that when additional funds were needed to cover schooling costs, the “osusu” was not enough so she had to get a loan from the bank and that is where MikashBoks came from.
In a product demo done by Reginald Campbell, Regional Deployment Lead, MikashBoks, he said they are available on the Goggle Play Store for android users and for those using iPhones or basic feature phones the person should sign up by dialling *352#.
He said MikashBoks is a mobile app showing Sierra Leone with the inscription it “pays to save”, adding that they make it easier and safer for individuals and groups to save and earn interest using their “Osusu Na Yu Phone” and “Personal Cashbox” features.
Campbell furthered that they give excluded communities access to a full range of financial services, adding that they earn interest at a competitive rate on their savings and building a credit history and reputation within their platform.
He said they can be connected to a marketplace of financial services by providing fair opportunities like bigger loans at a better rate.
Campbell said this makes it easier and safer for individuals and groups to save and earn interest using their “Osusu Na Yu Phone” and “Personal Cashbox” features.
He ended that they were granted the financial service license from the Bank of Sierra Leone in November 2023.