Sierra Leone Telecoms Market Report

Telecoms, Mobile and Broadband - Statistics and Analyses

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Last updated: 25 Mar 2025 Update History

Report Status: Current

Report Pages: 109

Sierra Leone receives financial support for its digital transformation ambitions

Sierra Leone’s telecom sector is gradually emerging from a long period of war and political chaos. Whereas international lenders including the World Bank some years ago baulked at providing funds for national projects, on the assumption that monies would be embezzled, since 2022 funding has been approved to extend the country’s fibre infrastructure and to enable the government to realise its ambitions to develop a digital economy and society.

Considerable progress has been made to improve fibre connectivity, with Sierra Leone being a partner in the Amilcar Cabral submarine cable which will connect several coastal countries in the region. In addition, the government is implementing its five-year National Digital Transformation Project which is aimed at widening the reach of internet services, improving digital skills, and extending the provision of government digital services. Technical support is being provided by Smart Africa, which opened a Digital Academy in Freetown in early 2023, as well as by the Indian Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology, which has started a three-year program to help Sierra Leone adopt digital technologies and bring the populace into the digital age. There have also been contracts awarded to private companies to set up the SMART Sierra Leone Project aimed at expanding internet connectivity and establish national data centres.

Given the poor state of the fixed-line infrastructure, mobile services have been the main driver in the telecom sector. In September 2023, Orange Sierra Leone launched a 5G pilot service covering the central business district of Freetown. The service is being undertaken in the context of the country’s National Innovation and Digitalisation Strategy, in which 5G is a pillar for extending access to the internet.

Key developments:

  • Legislation creates the National Communications Authority (NatCA) as the new telecom regulator.
  • Regulator signs MoU to adopt the ECOWAS Roaming Regulations.
  • Government signs contracts with the China National Technical Import & Export Corporation to set up the SMART Sierra Leone Project aimed at expanding internet connectivity to over 400,000 citizens and establishing national data centres.
  • Starlink secures licence to operate satellite broadband services in Sierra Leone.
  • Report update includes operator data to Q3 2024, updated Telecom Maturity Index charts and analyses, recent market developments.

Companies mentioned in this report:

Sierra Leone Telecommunications Company (Sierratel), Bharti Airtel (Zain, Celtel), Comium, Africell (Lintel), Millicom (Tigo), Cellcom, LapGreen (Ambitel, GreenN), Access Point Africa, Afcom, African Information Technology Holdings (AITH), Onlime (LimeLine).

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