President Koroma looks beyond Ebola: Joint Recovery Program for Mano River Union

President Koroma gave a passionate speech for Sierra Leone and the Mano River Union region to top investors at a luncheon hosted by the Corporate Council on Africa Thursday.

The Corporate Council on Africa (CCA) is the premier American organization devoted to United States-Africa business relations and includes as members more than 180 companies, which represent nearly 85 percent of total U.S. private sector investments in Africa.

CCA’s members range from America’s smallest to largest corporations. They represent a diverse pool of industries from Africa's most promising sectors, including agribusiness, capacity building, energy, finance, health, ICT, infrastructure and security.

Below is a transcript of President Koroma's remarks:

Ebola has had disastrous consequences. We’ve lost a huge number of our compatriots, the economy is almost grounding to a halt, and the nation, and the region, has been isolated.

But because of the support we have received from the international community, the resilience that has been shown by Sierra Leoneans, I can say that we are now on top of the situation. We are not yet out of it, our priority now is still getting to zero and staying zero until the 42 days prescribed by WHO. But from all the indicators, things are looking good. Very soon we will get to the point of zero and get out of zero.

For us as a nation, and also because of the closeness of the three countries, in our recovery programs we have agreed that we must adopt national recovery programs that will be aligned to a regional recovery program.

We believe these recovery programs will address the issues of building up health infrastructure, our educational sector, improving on social protection, and getting the economies back on their feet in the three countries.

We have agreed that we are going to present to the world and the international community a Joint Regional Recovery Program. We have started the process in Brussels and we will continue the process here. We’ve had meetings with the American government, the President, and the State Department, and we’ll continue with the World Bank and other agencies tomorrow.

Our message for the international community is to remain focused on getting us to zero and out of the Ebola crisis. We look forward to the support of world organizations, providing us what it takes to effect a successful program.

But in all of this, our potential for foreign direct investment is still there. We are still committed to creating an environment that will make your investments safe, earn you returns that will be more competitive than other regions. We have the natural resources and now the political leadership that is determined to provide that enabling environment.

For more information on the Corporate Council on Africa, please click here

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Ebola: The More We Learn, the More We Realize How Much We Don't Know

Image
Alex Bonapha, chairman, Kailahun District Council O bservers say the controversy erupting in Kailahun over the case of a dead baby might just open up critical questions on the Ebola epidemic in West Africa. "While the child appears to be at the center of this controversy, the real question being raised here is the mode of transmission: Is this virus transmitted or transfused?" asks Chernor Bah, chairman of the African Socialist Movement of Sierra Leone. Bah thinks “we need to listen to Mr. Bonapha's concerns.” A lex Bonapha is chairman of Kailahun District Council. In a tersely worded statement sent out Saturday, Bonapha said: "We are strongly contesting the validity of the one case today in Kailahun.  A young child of 9 months, fell ill and was hospitalised at the Nixon Memorial Hospital in Segbwema. They requested blood transfusion and a donor offered his blood. Eventually the child died and a swab was collected to verify the cause of death. It is this
Read more

28 Years Since the Death of Salami Coker

In words that echoed around the world, a commission of inquiry in Sierra Leone held the National Provisional Ruling Council (NPRC) responsible for extrajudicial killings in1992. The junta's attempt to justify these executions retrospectively by decree, on the basis that the 26 people were alleged coup plotters, was an unlawful abuse of executive power, the commission said. In particular, the Commission found that the deputy chairman of the NPRC, Solomon A.J. Musa, was personally responsible for acts of torture on detainees. They called the executions a flagrant violation of international standards.   Among those executed on December 29, 1992, were: Lt. Col James Yaya Kanu, former commanding officer of the 4th Battalion James Bambay Kamara, former Inspector General of Police Corporal Mohammed Mansaray, alias Candapa of the 1st Battalion Warrant Officer Class 1 Kargbo, alias Fernando of the 1st Battalion headquarters Lieutenant colonel (Rtd.) Kahota M.S. Dumbuya, Army Headquarters.
Read more

'Magazine Has Lost A Son'

Image
President Koroma sympathizes with the Fadika family Tuesday, August 8 Moseray Fadika was a keynote speaker at yet another event Friday, Aug. 5, when he felt ill and was rushed to an emergency room.  The man would die later that evening at the Royal London Hospital, in Whitechapel, east London. The cause of death is still unknown.  Fadika’s sudden loss has sent shockwaves through Sierra Leoneans online, across the small West African country and around the world. Frost Illustrated, a weekly newspaper in Fort Wayne, Indiana, described the popular  businessman-philanthropist turned politician as one of the wealthiest men in Sierra Leone, who built his fortune in extractive industries. Sierra Leone is rich in mineral resources. Diamonds, gold, bauxite, rutile and iron ore are known to exist in large quantities. Fadika never made Forbes Africa’s wealthiest lists, and no one knows just how much he was really worth. But by some estimates, he could have been Sierra Leone’s own
Read more