Opinion
By Dennis Deen-Sie, Sweden.
I’m wondering whether the government has released any figures stating the amount of money pledged/to be invested (not sure whether it was donor or investment conference) at the recently concluded London CG meeting. If newspaper reports, confirmed by the Minister of Finance that the amount pledged is $300m, are true then it’s a big disappointment; considering the size of the delegation, hotel bills, per diem, rent for conference center, etc. Annual Diaspora remittance, if I may hazard a guess, is 2-3 times or more that amount.
The government should have invested its time and tax payers money in Trade/Investment Fair/s in Freetown and/or in one of the major towns, Bo, Kenema or Makeni, where Sierra Leone-made products and produce would have been prominently displayed, and local businessmen, manufacturers, financial institutions, etc. met, interacted with and ’sold’ their ideas and products to potential investors, local- and Diaspora-based and foreign.
You don’t attract investors with feel-good speeches and the like, listing hopeful opportunities, but with visible hard evidence, e.g. products, goods, business houses/institutions, etc. Methink DENI-SL or similar invest-in Sierra Leone-oriented body/group, with support from UNDP or World Bank , in collaboration with the Sierra Leone Chamber of Commerce should have been given the job of organizing a Sierra Leone Trade/Investment Fair in Salone!
If Iraq could host a Trade Fair in Baghdad last month, which attracted thousands of investors from all over the world, I see no reason why we Sierra Leoneans cannot have one or more.....in Sierra Leone! But what do I know?
Sierra Leone is where it is because of my writing, I have been told!
The fact is, as disclosed by the Finance Minister, the CG was not an investment conference, but rather another of the same old "Donor Conferences" that have been held for Sierra Leone over the years, in Paris, London, New York, you name it. The APC, old and new, has always been good at raising the hopes of the people with deceptive but catchy slogans and labels. That’s one thing I’ve always admired about them. Only problem is, the people and the country always end up being the biggest losers, with the slogan masters laughing and jiving to their banks and well-filled accounts.
That’s my opinion, which I hope will not be said by the "experts" is responsible for Sierra Leone’s underdevelopment and impoverishment!
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