Africell and SWASAL sign partnership to augment sports reporting in Sierra Leone

Freetown | 22 September 2021 | Vertex Media

At at event held at the Africell American Corner, Bathurst Street in Freetown, Africell Sierra Leone has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the Sports Writers Association of Sierra Leone (SWASAL).

This partnership will see the telecom giant provides SWASAL with the capacity to effectively report on sporting activities across the country, in addition to their previous and continued support to the organization.

The President of SWASAL, Sahr Morris Jr. remarks Africell’s continued support to his organization, including SWASAL’s annual award ceremony, commentaries of local and international sporting events, etc.

“Today’s event is a renewal of our partnership with Africell …we must hold on to this to deepen our ultimate role in reporting sports in the country,” he stated.

The President of the Sierra Leone Association of Journalist (SLAJ), Ahmed Sahid Nasralla commends Africell’s role in supporting the media, especially for sports reporting. He hopes that the SWASAL membership “will take advantage of this partnership.”

An SMS service for daily sports updates was also launched by Africell and SWASAL. Africell users can subscribe to this service by texting SUB to 392 for Le 300 per day. Sahr Morris revealed that both parties (Africell and SWASAL) will get a 50/50 percentage sharing of the proceeds of this service.

Speaking on behalf of his company, the Corporate Affairs Manager of Africell, Joe Abass Bangura reiterates the power of as a critical tool in uniting and bringing people together, from different backgrounds and opinions.

“For us (at Africell), SWASAL is our incontestable partner,” he noted. Mr. Bangura highlighted Africell’s role in promoting sports in the country, ranging back from 2006 when they funded a friendly match between Leone Stars of Sierra Leone and Sili National of Guinea at the Siaka Stevens Stadium in Freetown.

The Keynote address was delivered by the Deputy Director of the National Sports Authority, Dr. Abdul Rahman Swarray. He congratulated SWASAL for winning the heart of Africell for this partnership. He urges the association’s membership to empower themselves through training education and training.

He emphasized the need to collaborate with parastatals, agencies and the private sector to develop sports in the country.

“Hence the reason it is relevant that SWASAL plays a very important role in not only writing sports, but in promoting and help developing sports in Sierra Leone.”

By Ibrahim Sorious Samura