By Aminata Sesay (Intern)
Orange-SL has on Friday 18th August 2023 launched their partnership with Conex fuel station to use digital mobile money to buy fuel from all Conex fuel stations in the country.
The CEO of Conex, Mr Kar, stated that the Conex-Orange Money relationship will be going a long way ‘as there are very good signs there’.
‘It is all about digitalising our wallets so we don’t have to be carrying big bundles of money in our pockets,’ he said. He continued that Orange and Conex are providing a platform for everyone to transact money through their mobile phones without carrying any physical money.
He assured that this is just the beginning of digitalising money in Sierra Leone and it is starting with Conex and Orange-SL. Mr David Mansaray, CEO of Orange Money, said Orange Money is all about financial digitalisation and this partnership is a step in the right direction.
He informed that their main aim is to ensure Sierra Leone becomes a cashless society. He said, ‘We want to be in a position wherein we can only use cash in extreme situations and that’s the goal and that’s what we are working towards and today marks a milestone in that direction.’
He said that he’s happy about the partnership with Conex for personal reasons.
‘I don’t know how many of you here have been in a situation wherein you have money in your Orange Money wallet but you don’t have physical cash and your car is without fuel in the middle of the night or during the day you are caught up. I have had that experience and it was not a pleasant one and usually what I’ll do is to go in search of an orange money agent, cash out, get physical cash and then look for the nearest fuel station to buy fuel,’ he said.
He continued that establishing this partnership is going to help them, that it will bring more customers and those customers will have more reasons to continue using Orange Money. And for Conex it’s also going to be very good to them in addition to all the benefits that they get.
‘Most fuel stations close down before 8pm -9pm as a result of the cash handling process. It is difficult for them to handle cash after 9pm; therefore, they have no choice but to close down. But this partnership will give Conex the opportunity to extend the hours beyond 9pm,’ he reiterated.
The Sales Manager of Conex, Mr Bernard Sesay, stated that they should accept that cash is slowly a dying process or product. He said that, ‘we are moving more and more to a cashless society’.
He continued that Conex in partnership with Orange Money has played a key role in popularising mobile money in the country and Conex has partnered to give their customers nation-wide the opportunity to pay with cash or mobile money in a situation where they don’t have physical money.
He ended by saying that it is important for their dealer to make sure they communicate to their customers that they have the possibility to pay through mobile money and in this instance, Orange Money.
