By Abubakarr Harding
The Director of Afrimoney Sierra Leone has intimated that they have introduced the donation platform as another additional service in the *161# Afrimoney mobile system which is meant to help churches, mosques and other organizations to receive money for themselves in the country.
Speaking to this medium, Martinson Obeng-Agyei said Afrimoney is a mobile money solution offered to all Africell Subscribers in a secure way to store and manage money in an account linked to one’s Africell sim card, similar to a bank account system.
Martinson Obeng-Agyei furthered that to be eligible for this platform, one has to ensure they register the said organization to Afrimoney which will be given a sim card with a short code that will serve as the account code to transfer money in an accessible way to low-income earners with minimal requirements for registration and transaction.
Martinson Obeng-Agyei continued that this mobile money platform is a means of receiving money without physical presence as one might not be chanced to go to church or mosque but however will be able to pay their offerings, tithes, Zakat, charities or to honour any other financial obligations or gestures.
Martinson Obeng-Agyei added that to make use of this platform, one can dial *161#, select the first option which says send money and after that one highlights the third option which is a donation, and one will be given three options which is option one for church, option two for mosque and option three for others which is any other organization individuals are dealing with and then select one of the options based on the organization one is dealing with and after that one will be asked to input the said organization code and then confirm the said code.
Martison said that some of the criteria they look for before registering any organization is their registration documents, the signatory of individuals that will have access to the mobile account, national identification and what have you to ensure credibility and certainty when entering into the agreement.
Mr. Obeng-Agyei uniquely highlighted that this platform is just the same as an account but with the aid of the sim card which serves as a connecting point to access this service as it will help the crowd funding capability of these organizations and as the leading telecommunications company in the country they ensure that this service is on free of cost basis in a quest to help these organizations.
Furthermore, Mr. Obeng-Agyei said that the importance of the mobile money system is enormous as it reduces transaction costs for users and helps households to better manage their cash flows; it allows firms to invest and build capital over time, fostering the creation and expansion of business; and it facilitates faster and more efficiently in terms of mobile money transaction.
In addition, he said that since they re-launch of the mobile money service in 2020, they have made rapid improvements in a faster and more secured mobile money platform with a wider array of services as Africell, puts mobile money at the heart of its expansion plans which will allow their customers to send funds swiftly and securely to individuals and organizations on any network and even those without phones on a twenty-four-hour basis using a unique code.
He concluded by imploring all and sundry to make use of the various offers of Afrimoney like the transfer of money domestically, payments for goods, and services, and to also pay bills such as EDSA, DSTV, and WAEC among others, buying Africell services like Airtime, Data, collect international remittances and the payment of salaries as the benefits are huge with effective and efficient service delivery in the country.
