Sierra Leone Has The Potential For Business- World Bank Executive Dir.

During his five days visit to Sierra Leone the Executive Director for Sierra Leone on the Boards of the World Bank (WB) Group Dr. Louis Rene Peter Larose has said the country has the “potential for business.”

Speaking recently to journalists, Peter Larose said he has observed that “Sierra Leone has a lot of good people that are resilient.”

Speaking about the recently launched free internet services to universities and schools, project Dr. Larose said “it is this project that will empower the entire population that will be connected to the rest of the world. This project will make the country more competitive.”

The visiting Executive Director maintained that Sierra Leone is a shareholder of the World Bank because of that it has demands and “we don’t look at one sector as the country is multi-sectorial that has lot of parastatals;  transport, agriculture, water and sanitation, energy, education and now communication which is a linkage to all the sectors.”

What does the bank aim to do in eradicating poverty in the country, Dr. Larose said “we want to address the reduction of poverty and promoting shared prosperity. This is done by enabling all sectors to develop as a single unit as much as possible that is the time we should be able to reduce extreme poverty, promote child prosperity and create a world for the people of Sierra Leone.”

Dr. Larose, visit is to reiterate the Bank’s strong support to the post-Ebola Recovery efforts of the Government of Sierra Leone and identify strategic areas for further enhanced support, especially in the context of the new three-year cycle of support – IDA 18.

In response to the Bank’s non-commitment for the construction of the Mamama Airport, Henry Kerali World Bank Country Director for Liberia, Ghana and Sierra Leone said “as a Bank we are concerned and looking at the economic viability of the projects particularly infrastructure.”
He said “if we have a proposal for spending $350m on an airport, the first thing we ask for is how many flights per day. There will come a time when you will have enough flights per day to justify the construction of the airport. Right now we have much fewer flights per day and week to justify its construction.”

He furthered that, the World Bank also looked at alternatives, “we have made commitment to improve the connectivity with Lungi and we will also help the government to look at longer term options of opening up Port Loko, maybe the construction of the bridge.”
Kerali disclosed, “when the timing is right and there are lots of flights that needs the construction of another airport, we will be the first one to offer our services.”

By Betty Milton