Building on an Export-sector-led Economy

Export sector development has become one of the most discussed issues in Sierra Leone’s development politics. The previous administration of Tejan Kabbah introduced some credible initiatives to promote Sierra Leone’s export trade worth pointing out. The investment code enacted in 2004 could actually increase visibility for Sierra Leone’s progress in creating an environment conducive to investment and poverty reduction if properly utilized. Empowering SLEDIC (Sierra Leone Export Development and Investment Corporation) as a “one-stop-shop” parastatal that simplifies business registration and minimizes transactions cost was also of strategic importance. But years of mismanagement of opportunities stifled the successful implementation of these initiatives. Today, however, there is reason to believe that commitment in implementing export sector development initiatives with the APC-led administration of Ernest Koroma can change.

Vast stretches of arable lands and abundance in mineral resources offer a natural comparative advantage for agricultural and technological development in Sierra Leone. The right commitment, in other words, can greatly square President Koroma’s goal of making government work in Sierra Leone.

The prognosis in Sierra Leone’s politics of self destruction has been hopelessly grim for decades. The country has consistently suffered decades of severe economic hardship and struggling with chronic problems of corruption and a broken management system at national proportions. The Gross Domestic Product (GDP) has not looked good for decades and the country has consistently ranked very low in the United Nations’ assessments of countries’ human development indices. It might make sense for the new APC administration to be serious about government, commit to a selfless agenda of national development, and expect the best to come out of Sierra Leone. But the commitment to change the pervading prognosis of systematic mismanagement of resources can even be now much more promising than it has been since the APC is being given a second chance, and President Koroma living up to the high standard of expectations Sierra Leoneans have for his government. Apparently, Sierra Leoneans have lost every patience and all they want to see is a government that can build on a pattern of positive change for sustained development.

Source : articlesbase