The first ever forum of its kind to be organized by the Sierra Leonean diplomatic mission in Ghana will be hosted in Accra on March 27, the Sierra Leonean High Commissioner to that country, Francess Virginia Anderson, was quoted saying.
She said the Sierra Leone Investment Forum is geared towards getting people to know that, apart from the country’s civil war, the 2014-2016 Ebola epidemic and deadly mudslide of 2017, there were good things to showcase about the country.
“Sierra Leone has woken up, it’s a new dawn,” she said in an interview aired on a local Ghanaian TV and broadcasted on social media.
Six cabinet ministers, headed by Minister of Foreign Affairs, Dr Alie Kabba, have been billed to attend the conference and make presentations to prospective Ghanaian and foreign investors on sectors in President Julius Maada Bio’s flagship development programs i.e. Education, Infrastructure, Health, Energy, Marine Resources and Tourism, said the High Commissioner.
She added that the ministers responsible for these departments will be among those officials attending the Accra event.
Ms Anderson also said the move is in line with the new government of President Bio’s Foreign Policy of Economic Diplomacy, a move away from traditional diplomacy.
The Sierra Leone government believes the Foreign ministry, under its predecessor, failed to lived up to its mandate over the years as it was unable to make imprints in foreign direct investments to support national growth and development and attract the recognition Sierra Leone deserves globally.
In August last year, President Bio presided over an induction ceremony of the newly appointed diplomats before they left for their respective assignments.
The president said then that the idea was for diplomats to henceforth focus on promoting favorable development and trade relations consistent with the evolving global trends for the country’s long-term national economic development.
“The mission will become a relationship officer for investors in Ghana,” added Ms. Anderson, speaking about the changing role of the diplomatic mission.
“It will give us the opportunity to monitor what passes through us,” she added.
The Accra event is scheduled for the La Palm Beach Hotel.
The High Commissioner said a trip has been arranged for potential investors going to Freetown to meet with officials of other ministries who will not be represented at the Accra event.