Votes, in exchange for development; the Private Sector Development factor

I arrived in Sierra Leone slightly over a week ago, in the company of three MRU Ambassadors to China. Our visit was in line with the commitment of the three Ambassadors to work towards the establishment of a Free Economic Zone along the Makona River basin. The Makona River Free Zone Development Project is in tandem with the Makona River Union that was created in 2005 at Koindu (Sierra Leone) by Members of Parliament of the three countries having origins in the region, as well as the Kissi ethnic community living along the Makona River from Guinea, Sierra Leone and Liberia.  (Photo: John Pa Baimba Sesay, IA, China)

Part of the team was also a journalist from Asia Television in Hong Kong, Tsang Chin Keung, who is a Chef Editor.  He had read a lot about the country prior to his visit. I took him round and he was practically impressed with what he saw. Our arrival coincided with the nomination of President Koroma and his vice, Chief Sam Sumana. Tsang Chin Keung could not believe the crowd he saw on Thursday, until I took him to Makeni where the President had stayed for a night, on his way to Karina

I was a guest on SLBC last week, where I heard the presenter ask the Political Affairs Minister whether it was true that the APC was giving money for votes. Does President Koroma need to do that? No. The reason being, with the great and uncountable achievements taking place in the country, especially following my visit to some parts of Sierra Leone last week, I am left with the impression, that the only bribe that was given to voters by President Koroma was that of development. They were paid in the form of good roads, the provision of electricity, the fight against corruption, the creation of jobs for the youths and that of changing the image of Sierra Leone at the international front. The more President Koroma does this, the more he is liked by voters and the more he is sure of winning the November polls.  I have written extensively on a range of issues, around the achievements of a President in sixty months, especially in the area of fighting corruption the area of infrastructural development, especially that of the provision of social infrastructure. The impression I keep getting each time I write about the achievements of this government is one of satisfaction and hope, that with the reelection of President Koroma in November, we are bound to reach the apex we are chasing.

For the sake of argument and some sort of debate, be it political or otherwise, let us zero our attention today to the aspect of private sector development, and see how this should serve as a determinant factor for the reelection of President Ernest Koroma, who has been crowned by the youths, women and majority of Sierra Leoneans as the ‘world best’ in our political dispensation.

By November 2010, President Koroma, during the WAICA Conference Address spoke of the relevance of the private sector in Sierra Leone’s development, stating that “…the active participation of the private sector is central to the process [of transformation]….” and as such, he promised to use this sector to “underpinning the success of our Agenda for Change through strong partnerships with the private sector.

Sierra Leone’s governance process in the last five years has attracted international attention. But this is especially true in terms of the extent to which we have gone in developing the nation’s private sector, which is an engine for a country’s growth. We have found ourselves in a situation wherein, the central government since independence was always the largest employer, since the private sector was severely underdeveloped. But we saw a change in this following the election of President Koroma in 2007.  On assuming office, his government vowed to place private sector development at the heart of the country’s transformative agenda.  The Ministry of Trade was then charged to spearhead the implementation of this vision for a more robust private sector participation in the country’s economy. The effect of such a decision was the establishment of a Private Sector Advisory Unit within the Office of the President.

Since 2007, three core objectives have always underpinned the work of the Ministry of Trade and Industry; promoting private sector development; improving the investment climate and encouraging expansion and diversification of export. And within a period of sixty months, several projects have been undertaken to move in line with those objectives; a National Private Sector Development Strategy was formulated, as well as a National Export Strategy. We also saw the establishment of a Public Private Partnership Unit, in the office of the President to assist MDAs in structuring and negotiating agreements.  We have seen the privatization of the Freetown Port with a view to achieving modernization of same, improved turn-round times for ships, and decreases in freight and insurance costs.

In the area of business index, Sierra Leone, under the leadership of President Ernest Bai Koroma has improved 20 places in the rankings of the World Bank Doing Business Index. We also today have witnessed the establishment of commercial courts, which was a promised by President Koroma, coupled with an increase in tax payment efficiency. Also after five years in governance, investors now feel more secure and safe in doing business in Sierra Leone, with the Ministry of Trade and Industry having developed a package for investors. A leading agency in the area of encouraging investment into the country is the Sierra Leone Investment and Export Promotion Agency-SLIEPA. This agency-SLIEPA- has always created the platform for direct foreign and domestic investment in Sierra Leone.  SLIEPA is responsible for the promotion, co-ordination and generation of foreign and domestic investment.  There are huge  investment incentives, as a way of attracting investments into the country, like  ; capacity building support, foreign exchange remittance, remittance of profit, guarantee of capital repatriation and of loan remittance and guarantee against expropriation are all a way of protecting both domestic and foreign investments.   Also in tandem with the Sierra Leone Export and Investment Promotion Agency (SLIEPA) perspective, we have seen the Removal of Administrative Barriers to Investment (RABI) Project, among others.

In the last five years  governance leadership of President Koroma, we also, as a country, have got the provision of technical assistance by Arab Bank for Economic Development in Africa (BADEA),  to the Sierra Leone Standards Bureau,  thus enabling it to perform its duty in respect of Standards Quality Management Systems.   In five years, ierra Leone has continued to attract huge investment in the mineral, marine and agriculture sectors. Through the partnership of the government, IDEA (UK) and Hamilton, the Cape Sierra Hotel will be refurbished into a 5-star hotel. And this has to do with the enabling leadership provided by President Koroma and his government.

By September 2007, Sierra Leone was among countries listed as one of the “wrong places for doing business”. But President Koroma gave a face light to the country in this area, soon after coming to power. What he did, was to identify the problem as being too bureaucratic with business policies and practices that held very little significance and bogged down the process. And so in his our vision to create an environment for private sector growth, he ensured, his government removed these administrative barriers to make investment easy.  In collaboration with the United Nations Industrial Development Organization, (UNIDO) the government of President Koroma carried out the rehabilitation of three Growth Centres in Binkolo, Pujehun and Kpendembu and provided agro-processing machines and other equipment at the various units within these Centres. Technology was improved at all the Growth Centres in the area of Food Processing and Agricultural tools manufacture. What government also did was ensuring a workable business Plan for each Growth Centre to enable them to become self-sufficient; refresher training for master craft-men for production; processing and packaging of finished products conducted; and Group Savings and loan programs (cooperatives) for each Growth Centre designed and established. All of these occurred in a sixty months period under the Koroma Presidency.  In five years in governance, President Koroma also enacted the Intellectual Property Rights Law of 2011 to provide safeguards against piracy and to reward creativity. This is expected to enhance not just the development and growth of the creative arts, but also the private sector in general.

So when we look at some of these development as stated above, one could argue that much has be done and these could be used in asking voters for their precious votes in a month’s time. We know we still have a lot of challenges, we have not reached where we are heading for, but given what we are experiencing, it is a national duty that we have to call for the reelection of President Koroma. You can trade your vote, especially in exchange for development.

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