By John Sheka Tarawalie
Orange Money which is the electronic wallet that the Orange Group offers to all its customers to carry out various financial transactions, on Monday 13th December, 2021 signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the Bo City Council at De-wizard Conference Hall in Bo City. The MoU is to enable the people of Bo to pay their taxes and city rates to the Bo City Council using Orange Money from their comfort zones.
In his statement, the acting Mayor who is also the Deputy Mayor of the Bo City Council, David J.N Smart said it is a very serious decision which the Bo City Council made to go into partnership with Orange Money, noting that they held meetings before deciding who to sign a partnership with because other companies approached them with similar opportunities.
He added that they chose Orange Sierra Leone over the other companies because of what Orange Sierra Leone has been doing in the country and that they also decided to go into the partnership with Orange Money in order to help the Council in its revenue mobilization.
According to him, this will serve as a foundation stone for them to go into further partnerships as it will benefit both parties. He further noted that they have been depending on banks and physical payments, but that with Orange Money, the burden on the people will be less in paying their taxes.
The Chief Administrator of the Bo City Council Veronica Fortune said it is a dream come true to partner with Orange Money, noting that they are anticipating huge returns and sustainability as their projection for 2022 is very high. She further said that with robust publicity, such is welcome news to the people of Bo. She added that they expect Orange Money agents to always be up and running and assured that tax payers outside Bo City can now pay their taxes even if they are outside the city, adding that she looks forward to a formidable partnership and collaboration between the two institutions.
The Orange Money CEO David Mansaray said he is grateful to the Bo City Council for accepting to partner with them, noting that it is not new for Orange, because they have been partnering with other Councils. He assured the Bo City Council that they have chosen the right path because the world is now moving towards digitalization, noting that they will help the Bo City Council in their revenue mobilization. He said the partnership will ease the burden on the tax payers and boost transparency. He thanked the Orange staff and the Bo City Council staffs for the effort in actualizing their dream.
The event was climaxed by signing of the Memorandum of Understanding.
