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The World Bank Country Representative in Sierra Leone, Mr. Engilbert Gudmundsson has said in Freetown that the mining sector is very important for Sierra Leone’s socio-economic development. Mr. Gudmundsson was speaking at a tripatrite national workshop held recently at the Bishop Broshnan Memorial Hall at the Santano House, Howe Street.
The World Bank Representative said he believes the objective of the strategic environmental and social assessment (SESA) process, which is the preparatory stage of the mining policy and the restructuring of the mining sector, is a key environmental and social issue that must be achieved.  Mr. Gudmunsson called on stakeholders in the mining sector to play a leading role in the implementation and monitoring the recommendations drawn from the various workshops.
Presenting the recommendations, one of the leading engineering and project management consultancy firms in Sierra Leone, CEMMAT Group Limited Executive Director, Mr. Andrew Keili said the recommendation was categorized in three parts which include strengthening environmental governance, enhancing benefits to communities and effectively incorporating the artisanal mining sector in the reforms. He recalled that four workshops were held in Freetown and the provinces to map out these recommendations.
The CEMMAT Group was charged with the responsibility by government to undertake a strategic environmental and social assessment of the mineral sector in order to put mechanism for social and environmental sustainability.
The Director of Mineral Resources, Mr. Alimamy Wurie observed the significance the mining industry has made to the country’s economy over the years. He however admitted the negative impact of mining on the environment. Mr. Wurie said that the Mines Ministry has developed a strategy whereby an applicant for antisanal mining licence is required to pay a prescribed fee for reclamation of the worked out area before the licence is issued or renewed.  The amount collected, he went on, is kept in a special rehabilitation fund which is used to service the reclamation work under taken on behalf of government. The Mines Director assured that the Mines Ministry will continue to improve its investment climate to attract more investors, contractors and financiers for a very competitive mining policy.

African Path

Promoting economic growth and national development through increased trade investment should be a top agenda of the Central Bank of Sierra Leone and the government, should we talk about inviting investors to come to this country. There are several debates as to what factors and policies that influence our economic decisions in the global market. The government through it business entities must take a logistic approach to ensure

that the country becomes a preferred environment for investors in the sub-region.
It is clear enough to note that the image of the country during the ten year rebel war as a destination for foreign direct investment has not been favourable. The odd notion directed by the international media to the global market about the situation in the country has contributed greatly to halting some potential business oriented investors coming into Sierra Leone. Although the country is practicing a liberal economy and encourages foreign direct investors with attractive incentives, she has also succeeded in pointing out to investors that she is environmentally friendly.
Today the indisputable fact remains that there are development gaps and vast opportunities for foreign investors while the government has also put in place economic reforms that aimed at making a prioritize market for investors. There has been also an improved regulators frame work for an open market system which permits profit repatriation and providing tax exemption for investors. These reform measures are a catalyst for investors wanting to explore the various sectors in the country.
In the tourism sector, the country is endowed with an abundance of natural touristic attraction and wonders of its natural landscape, beautiful coastal view and scenery with rich cultural heritage. Unfortunately this sector though attractive has not received lots of tourists and even those coming in as investors such as those in the hotel industry have found it very difficult to proceed with their business. We are blessed with diverse species of birds, crocodiles, chimpanzees and many unrecorded and unclassified species which are also unique to the country. Investors are willing enough to come in to help develop these areas and mostly the tourism infrastructure if only they see the market as business friendly. The mineral sector has received a huge deposit of bauxite, rutile, gold, diamond, minerals and metals that are all scattered over the country. In addition, there have been much feasibility studies and potential for oil and gas exploration. All of these areas lie in want of investors to easily cease the opportunity.
Sierra Leone can boast of a coastal of about 210 nautical miles with over 200 diverse fish species that have been identified in our territorial waters. The fishing output stands a little over 50% under the yield potential. There are lots of shellfish like shrimps, tuna, mackerel, snapper, catfish, lobsters, crabs etc which are being used by customers and at the best restaurants and hotels around the world. But what is lacking is the protection and management of this sector of the country. Reports of encroachment of foreign fishing vessels in our waters and taking our fish products to Europe are creating an economic loss for the country. The country’s waters are under fished with a current level of a little over 55,000 tons. The country, though been cheated by some illegal vessels, is encouraging more fishing vessels to come openly and improve the marine infrastructure and substantially increase the fishing output to some 200,000 tons.
While some countries in the world trying to make the agriculture sector more economical with fertile soil, Sierra Leone is endowed with thousands of hectres of arable land. At present, it is evidently clear that only 20% of the land is been exploited for agricultural purposes and two thirds of the population is engaged in subsistence farming, but agriculture accounts for less than 45% of the national income. The traditional export crops such as Coffee and Cocoa could benefit inversely from technological and capital investment to increase production and yields. There is great need to improve the oil palm, sugarcanes, ginger, banana and apple plantations for export. The production of cashew, cassava, rice and groundnut could also be developed for export. One good step in the right direction is that the country is benefiting from the United States African Growth and opportunity Act (AGOA), which guarantees access to the US market and has preference in the European markets.
What perhaps Sierra Leone needs is sustainable development assistance recapitalizing the key institutions and investment in machines, factories and other programmes in which state owned companies and assets are being divested, although the process is weak and slow. The Investment Promotion Act No. 10 of 2004 and other recent legislations such as the Banking Act have all provided an enabling environment for the private sector to thrive and in the process ensure the sustainable growth of the economy. Presently a good number of companies such as G. Shankandas, Kings Foam, Intrapex etc., are striving well, and government is needed to make more profitable companies under it auspices such as those in the manufacturing, insurance and export sectors been privatized.
In a bid to maximize opportunities the Central Bank of Sierra Leone recently succeeded in having a bill passed in parliament as a legal framework for the development of a stock exchange/capital market so that the ordinary man can buy and sell shares in a transparent and open manner.
In a nut shell, Sierra Leone’s long-term development depends largely on industrial investors who will establish modern manufacturing products that would compete in the international markets.

African Path

Central Freetown is kaleidoscope of activity. Here in the capital of Sierra Leone, young women balance baskets of peanuts on their head, street vendors sell used clothing or knock-off electronics and amputees beg for coins.

In the midst of the day’s ordinary chaos, the odd passerby ducks into a grimy cream-coloured building that juts out on the corner of Rawdon St. Up on the second floor is a popular cyber café called Sylvia Blyden. Named after its Sierra Leonean owner, the business offers round-the-clock Internet service — and a place where locals can connect with the outside world.

As one of the few cyber cafes in the country, the place is usually packed. Customers grab a number and wait in a queue of plastic chairs lining a dimly lit hallway. Signs instruct visitors to ask for time before logging on, as well as warning people not to charge their mobile phones while they wait. Power is an issue in Sierra Leone, ranked the second poorest country in the world by the United Nations’ Human Development Index. The country has been without reliable electricity since the 1980s and as a result, everything from TV stations to computers run on generators.

The cyber café itself is a simple, cramped room with dirty Smurf-blue walls trimmed with armies of ants. There are twelve working computers. Some of the Samsung screens are tinted — yellow, purple, blue. On a rainy Tuesday — and despite the numbingly slow connection — they are in high demand. When the computers crash or users are unable to connect to the Internet, support staff come to the rescue armed with a bag of trix. One of them uses a pair of scissors to reboot a computer, jabbing them into a small hole that used to be a power button.

Visitors at one of Freetown’s few cyber cafes pay about a dollar an hour to surf the Internet

Brima Conteh waits patiently for his computer to be fixed. Before it shut off unexpectedly, he was glued to the Manchester United homepage. “I love sports,” he says. Although Conteh spends most of his time online following Man U, his web use isn’t limited to football. “I use it to learn more about news around the world.”

The café operator, Mohamed Cybakamara, explains that the people here use the computers for a variety of reasons. “Documents, assignments, research, sending e-mails, communication. Some come and browse for finding friends.”

One might suspect that cyber cafes in Africa have at least one person “finding friends” via e-mail scams. This could be the case, but more common is the young man in the corner browsing his hi5 page. West Africa has joined Web 2.0.

Internet centres started popping up in Sierra Leone in 2001. At present, there is a handful across Freetown. Three of them even make the Lonely Planet. The facilities range from a computer shop with CNN and an ice cream machine, to random, run-down rooms.

Sylvia Blyden is mid range. One hour of Internet use during the day costs about a dollar. From midnight to 7 a.m., it’s even less. Flash drives are also for sale. A 128 MB stick goes for about $30. Since the vast majority of Sierra Leoneans don’t have computers, memory sticks take the place of PDAs or laptops. Men here often wear the sticks around their neck.

Yahoo.com is the homepage at most Freetown cyber cafes, as well as the most popular webmail service across West Africa. Philomima Turay is checking her Yahoo account. “Trying to get some funds,” she says. Turay, 39, is looking at a Masters program in Peace and Conflict Studies at Coventry University in England. It is a competitive program, so Turay is online exploring scholarships and grants.

Not all users are so forthcoming. When asked what he does online, Abdul Barrie replies, “chat with friends, doing my business.” Barrie, 25, provides few details but says he’s a sales manager in the lucrative diamond business. He spends time online emailing his business partner in Chicago and maintains that he goes through the proper channels with the government.

From football to email, bling to social networking, Sierra Leoneans are logging on. And for a buck an hour to see the world, it’s the best deal around.

globeandmail.com: Freetown’s window to the world

Mohamed Kallon is looking to playing English

Sierra Leone captain Mohamed Kallon says a friendly against English club Millwall is ideal preparation for their upcoming 2010 World Cup qualifier.

The game on 4 August in London is being organised to comemorate the bicentenary of the abolition of slavery.

“We’ll use it as part of our build-up for our World Cup qualifying match in October,” said Kallon.

“We should put the Nations Cup behind us as we’re out of the race, and we should think of the 2010 World Cup.”

The game coincides with the visit to London of the slave ship Amistad that is currently retracing the infamous slave triangle between the Americans, London and Sierra Leone.

The match will be Millwall’s final pre-season game before the English League One season that kicks off on 11 August.

The Millwall chairman Stewart Till said: “Millwall is pleased and proud to be associated with the commemoration of the ablition of slavery.

“Football has proved time and again to have tremendous potential to bring people together, and we are looking foward to welcoming Sierra Leone to Den.”

It will be Sierra Leone’s second match against an English team this year, after the Leone Stars defeated another League One Leyton Orient 4-2 in in London in May.

African nations have taken the biggest steps in reducing corruption over the past 10 years, the World Bank has said.

A report measuring the quality of government in 212 countries from 1996 to 2006 found Africa had shown the greatest improvement.

The report judged whether countries had free media, political stability, the rule of law and control of corruption.

Countries in decline included Zimbabwe and Venezuela, but there were as many gainers as losers.

Critical for growth

Legitimate and effective political authority in managing society’s affairs is crucial to eliminating poverty and lifting the standards of living of the citizens in a country, the report concluded.

“Such improvements in governance are critical for aid effectiveness and for sustained long-run growth,” said Daniel Kaufmann, co-author of the report and director of global programmes at the World Bank.

“Bribery around the world is estimated at about $1 trillion (£494bn) and the burden of corruption falls disproportionately on the bottom billion people living in extreme poverty,” he continued.

The bank’s Governance Matters, 2007: Worldwide Governance Indicators 1996-2006 study highlighted the number of African countries that had made great strides in improving various aspects of government.

Kenya, Niger and Sierra Leone, which suffered a decade of civil war until 2002, were picked out for marked improvements in allowing their people the right to choose their government and freedom of expression, which includes an unconstrained press.

Angola, Rwanda and Sierra Leone were also acknowledged for their enhanced political stability.

Little overall improvement

The report noted the fast-paced progress of emerging economies, including Estonia, Latvia, the Czech Republic and Costa Rica, which score higher on key dimensions of governance than their industrialised counterparts, including Greece and Italy.

But on the whole, the bank said there had been little improvement to the quality of government around the world over the past decade.

Shlomo Yitzhaki, director of Israel’s Central Bureau of Statistics and Professor of Economics at Hebrew University, said the World Bank’s governance indicators were a “crucial tool” for policy analysts and decision-makers benchmarking their countries.

“It definitely sets a standard for transparency in data,” he added.

Good governance has increasingly become a key factor in granting aid to developing countries, and was a policy closely associated with World Bank head Paul Wolfowitz, who was forced to resign last month.

BBC NEWS | Business | African corruption ‘on the wane

Campaigning for Sierra Leone’s August 11 legislative and presidential elections began Tuesday, with outgoing head of state Ahmad Tejan Kabbah calling for “violent-free” polls.

“Let me remind all that politics is a friendly contest and we should accept the outcome. Let us all sustain the level of peace now existing in the country,” said Kabbah, who is stepping down after serving for the maximum allowed two terms.

“All Sierra Leoneans should ensure that the elections are violent-free,” he added.

The polls on August 11 will be closely watched abroad for signs confirming that the unrest that fuelled Sierra Leone’s 1991-2001 civil war has been definitively quelled.

The spokeswoman for the country’s National Electoral Commission, Miatta French, said seven parties had registered for the elections.

“We will observe how the parties campaign from now on until August 9 (the end of the campaigning period) to ensure that they keep within the law and not be violent in their utterances,” she said.

On the same day as the two elections, Sierra Leone’s voters will also be asked to vote in a referendum on changing the constitution.

A special UN envoy to the country, Victor Angelo, said: “The start of the campaign is important as Sierra Leone advances on the road to democratic consolidation.”

IC Publications

The prosecutor in the special Sierra Leone tribunal said today he was optimistic that the trial of Charles Taylor, the former Liberian president accused of war crimes, will proceed on schedule despite recent delays.

Stephen Rapp, formerly a US attorney in Iowa, told Guardian Unlimited that Mr Taylor’s trial should resume at The Hague next month.

“I see the trial proceeding,” Mr Rapp said during a visit to London. “The challenge is that he needs a new defence team. The judge has ordered legal aid to be substantially increased to $100,000 a month and work is under way to get that team in place this month for the next session on August 20.”

Mr Taylor sacked his lawyer when his trial opened in June and boycotted the special UN-backed court because, he said, he wanted a stronger legal team. Mr Taylor subsequently appeared before the court last week to re-enter a not guilty plea to a count of sexual slavery, which had been slightly reworded in an amended indictment.

The special court has since agreed to a new “financial package” of $100,000 (£50,000) a month so that he can hire a top legal team for his defence. The 59-year-old Mr Taylor could go through $2m depending on how long his trial takes. Estimates range from 12 to 18 months.

Mr Taylor faces 11 charges of war crimes and crimes against humanity for allegedly backing the Revolutionary United Front, a rebel group that killed, maimed and raped thousands of Sierra Leoneans during a war that lasted 11 years and ended in 2002 after British military intervention.

If Mr Taylor is found guilty, he is likely to spend the rest of his life in a British jail. Today, the court is expected to initial an agreement with the British authorities for the UK to accept him as a prisoner.

The court has been criticised for being too expensive and too slow in bringing people to trial. Set up in 2002, the ad-hoc court consisting of international and Sierra Leonean judges issued its first verdicts last month, when three militia leaders were found guilty of war crimes, including mutilation, rape and the use of child soldiers in Sierra Leone’s civil war. The court made legal history as it was the first time an international tribunal ruled on the charge of recruitment of child soldiers.

The president of the special court, Justice George Gelaga King, rejected charges of slowness.

“When the special court was set up in 2002, it had to start from scratch. It was given 11 and a half acres of virgin jungle land, there was no electricity and no water. It took time to put facilities in place,” he said. “The court ought to be commended for working in difficult and adverse circumstances.”

The cost of the court from 2002 to 2009, when it is expected to wind up, is put at $102m. Some Sierra Leoneans wonder whether the money could have been better spent on rebuilding their shattered country rather than on a court where three-quarters of the judges are foreign.

Holding Mr Taylor’s trial at The Hague has added to the costs, but it was felt by the Sierra Leonean government and the UN security council that holding the trial in Freetown, where the court is based, would be too dangerous. Both the Liberian and Sierra Leonean governments feared that a trial in west Africa might spark fresh unrest by rousing Mr Taylor’s supporters, many of whom are former child soldiers.

“There is peace in Sierra Leone, but the situation is not 100% stable,” said Judge King. “It is very delicate.”

Human rights groups have also faulted the tribunal for failing to spread the word to the public in Sierra Leone and Liberia about its work.

“It’s important for people to know that Charles Taylor is being held to account,” said Tania Bernath, an Amnesty International researcher on Sierra Leone.

If people are failing to get the correct information from the tribunal, she said, Taylor supporters in Liberia could manipulate public opinion. There have been rumours, for example, that Mr Taylor is being starved by the court.

Part of the reason for members of the special court visiting London and other capitals is to raise money. The court depends on voluntary contributions, with the US and the UK stumping up two-thirds of the money. The court needs to raise more cash or it will run out by the end of October.

“We need $89m over the next three years,” Mr Rapp said. “Of the $89m we’ve raised $26-27m, so there’s $60m to go. It does involve me talking to people and telling them why it’s important for countries to support the court.”

Prosecutor sees progress in Taylor trial | Special reports | Guardian Unlimited

Dozens of Liberian police officers have been wounded in clashes between the regular force and the body guarding the main port in the capital, Monrovia.

Liberian National Police spokesman Alvin Jask said the clashes came after his officers went to the seaport to investigate reports of fuel theft.

He said the police director was taken hostage by the seaport police, who threw stones at her reinforcements.

The fighting was quelled by UN troops – deployed after a 14-year war.

The BBC’s Jonathan Paye-Layleh in Monrovia says this is the first clash between rival security forces since Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf took power last year, following historic elections.

Mr Jask said 22 police officers were in hospital – 18 with serious injuries.

Deputy Port Managing Director Reginald Pratt said at least 12 of their workers had been injured in the attack and they were being treated at clinics around Monrovia.

Eyewitnesses say the reinforcements called by police director Beatrice Munah Sieh, moved into the port compound, assaulting port workers and smashing doors.

Our reporter says blood trails could be seen in some places where the early morning clash took place.

Ambulances shuttled between the port and hospitals with the wounded as hundreds of curious people stood watching outside the port fence.

BBC NEWS | Africa | Rival Liberia police forces clash

On the eve of the start of election campaigning in Sierra Leone, a senior United Nations official in the country today urged democratic conduct by the parties.

“A peaceful campaign is crucial for credible elections,” said the Executive Representative of the Secretary-General, Victor Angelo, encouraging all candidates to abide by the Political Parties Code of Conduct.

He said the UN trusts that they “will keep the national interest above everything else and exhibit during the campaigning period the democratic maturity that they have shown during the nomination phase, as well as during the previous stages of the electoral process.”

Mr. Angelo also urged reporters and producers to fully adhere to the Media Code of Conduct.

Sierra Leonean voters will go to the polls on 11 August for nationwide elections.

allAfrica.com: Sierra Leone: As Election Campaign Approaches, UN Official Urges Democratic Conduct (Page 1 of 1)