| Type | Subsidiary of Lintel Holding |
|---|---|
| Industry | Mobile telephone services |
| Founded | Gambia 2001 Sierra Leone 2005 |
| Headquarters | Serrekunda, The Gambia Freetown, Sierra Leone |
| Key people | Alieu Badara Mbye CEO Gambia – Shadi Al-Gerjawi CEO Sierra Leone |
| Website |
www.africell.com http://www.africell.gm Sierra Leone |
Africell is a mobile telecommunications company serving The Gambia and Sierra Leone. It is a subsidiary of the Lebanese telecommunications company Lintel Holding.
Africell has750,000 subscribers (2q 2011) in the Gambia and 1,100,000 in Sierra Leone (2q 2011).
All its core network and radio equipments are supplied by Siemens.[1]
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Africell is the Leading GSM Operator in the Gambia with more than 69% of the GSM market Share.
Africell Gambia has a prominent advertising and promotional presence in the country and contributes significantly in sports and youth development, and health and education.[2]
A long running campaign in which subscribers had the chance the win a house worth 3,000,000 dalasis (about US $138,000) came to a dramatic conclusion in January 2008 when policeman Mr Ahagie Badgie's name was drawn from a jar. Mr Badgie, who is seriously ill in hospital, commented “Even if I don’t survive I would be happy that my children would be staying in the house.” The two runners-up each received 50,000 dalasis.[3][4]
The company launched a pageant to find "Gambian ladies between the ages of 18–25, attractive and who possessed the qualities of communication skills, a good education, self-confident [sic], reliance, and ability to convince prospective clients for Africell".[5] Around 200 candidates applied to participate in the competition.
The eventual winner was Yamundow Leigh, who has since appeared in various promotions for Africell. She also won a car as a prize.
Africell sponsors the GFA League First Division Sait Matty football team. It also sponsors the Gambian national side and the Gambia Under-17 football team that won the African Cup in April 2009.
The Back to the Land promotion was launched on 15 April 2009 (for a period of three months)
This promotion consisted of two parts:
1. Free Ploughing
2. Tractors
• The Free ploughing competition consists of a weekly draw were the subscribers won Free ploughing and Free fertilizing materials.
• The Tractors competition consisted of 3 monthly Draws(2 Tractors/month). Only subscribers from the upcountry (rural) regions could participate in this part of the competition.
This competition aimed to encourage people to get back to their lands and farms.