Africell Sierra Leone is taking its customer engagement strategy beyond corporate offices and service centres, bringing senior management and staff directly into communities and media spaces to listen to customers, respond to concerns and better understand how its services are being experienced across the country.
The approach was demonstrated during the company’s Africell Customer Experience (ACE) Media Tour, held nationwide on Thursday, 13 August, which saw Africell directors, managers and other staff engage audiences through radio and television programs.
Rather than relying solely on conventional customer-service channels, the initiative provided an opportunity for the telecommunications company to have direct conversations with the people who use its products and services every day.
Speaking during the tour, Africell Sierra Leone Chief Executive Officer Shadi Gerjawi said customer feedback remains central to the company’s decision-making process, particularly as the telecommunications sector continues to evolve.
According to Gerjawi, changes in technology are accompanied by changing customer expectations. As consumers demand faster connectivity, more accessible digital services and greater value for money, telecommunications companies must continuously adapt.
He explained that Africell therefore makes deliberate efforts to meet customers where they are—within communities, markets, streets and public spaces to understand their experiences and identify areas requiring improvement.
For Gerjawi, customer satisfaction is not simply an additional consideration but a fundamental measure of whether a product or service is successful.
“It doesn’t matter what product we have; if the customers are not happy with it, it means we don’t have a good product,” he said, emphasizing the importance of listening to users.
The CEO noted that Africell has maintained customer outreach programs for approximately five years, demonstrating that the company’s engagement with its customers predates the latest ACE Media Tour.
The ACE initiative consequently builds on an existing strategy of taking the company closer to its customers while creating additional platforms through which their concerns can reach management.
During the nationwide tour, Africell teams used live radio and television discussions to explain the company’s products and services while responding directly to questions from customers and members of the public.
The conversations covered areas including Afrimoney, connectivity, technological innovation, recruitment opportunities, corporate social responsibility programmes and the company’s expansion plans.
The engagement also allowed customers to raise concerns and seek clarification directly from company representatives, creating a two-way communication process rather than a one-directional promotional campaign.
Gerjawi further highlighted Africell’s investments in technology and digital connectivity. He referenced the company’s development and expansion of services including 3G, 4G, Fibre-to-the-Home (FTTH), Afrimoney and preparations towards 5G.
The company has also partnered with Sierratel through a Mobile Virtual Network Operator (MVNO) arrangement, an initiative linked to Africell’s broader efforts to expand accessibility and strengthen its position within Sierra Leone’s telecommunications landscape.
Beyond commercial services, Gerjawi pointed to initiatives aimed at responding to wider social needs.
Among them is KidZone, which is designed to help children remain safer while using the internet. He also highlighted Africell’s partnership with the Milton Margai School for the Blind, presenting both initiatives as examples of the company’s broader engagement with communities.
These programmes, according to Gerjawi, reflect Africell’s intention to remain responsive not only to changing consumer behaviour but also to the social environment in which it operates.
The ACE Media Tour therefore served two purposes: communicating information about Africell’s services and creating a mechanism through which customer experiences could influence the company’s future decisions.
Gerjawi said feedback from customers often returns to the company’s offices as a list of issues requiring attention, reinforcing the importance of maintaining regular communication with users.
He assured customers that Africell would continue seeking their opinions and using the information gathered to improve its services.
The company’s customer-focused strategy is ultimately built around several principles, including trust, affordability, innovation, accessibility and responsiveness.
After more than two decades of operations in Sierra Leone, Africell says maintaining that relationship requires the company to continue listening to the people it serves.
The ACE Media Tour represents one of the ways the telecommunications provider is attempting to strengthen that relationship by taking its services, explanations and senior representatives directly to the public while allowing customers to have their voices heard.
As technology continues to reshape the way Sierra Leoneans communicate, conduct business and access financial and digital services, Africell’s challenge will be to ensure that innovation is matched by reliability, affordability and meaningful customer engagement.
For the company, the message from the ACE tour is clear: the customer is not simply the end-user of a service, but an important participant in shaping what that service becomes.
