DFID sign ₤4.4 Million MOU with Sierra Leone Ministry of Trade and Industry

The Department for International Development (DFID) UK aid donated ₤4.4 million to the Ministry of Trade and Industry on Wednesday May 15^th 2013.

The £4.4 million programme will include a number of components covering

• Market research, sector studies, and pilot activities aimed at identifying and testing responses to market failures.
• Capacity building to government, particularly to MTI and the agencies it supervises, including technical assistance, advice, training, and operational resources.
• Training and grants to small businesses and entrepreneurs, including funds channeled through NGOs, business competitions and job creation schemes.
• Support to financial intermediaries, including technical assistance to banks to enable increased lending to small businesses and related activities which support the objectives of the programme.

Responding the Minister of Trade and Industry, Alhaji Usman Boie Kamara, thanked DFID for the wonderful collaboration in helping the government of Sierra Leone. He affirmed that he will ensure the money is being utilized for the intended purpose.

He stated this would also help the Agenda for Prosperity the president is preaching about, and it would help small businesses to grow, adding that he would ensure proper accountability.

“This will help to remove the traders from the streets,” he stated, adding that the money would be put into a proper structure to enable people to access loans from as the ministry will facilitate the programme. “

This is a project for economic growth and it is non-political”,  stressed Minister Kamara.

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