December 20, 2021
BY MOHAMED M. SESAY
On Friday the 17th of December 2021, the World Bank made another landmark financial support towards President Bio’s Government in the tune of $75 million under the First Sustainable and Growth Facility financing programme.
This glad tiding ceremony which was held at the Ministry of Finance’s Conference Hall attracted other government ministers and dignitaries.
In his statement, the Country Manager of World Bank Abdu Muwonge disclosed that on the 16th December 2021, the board of World Bank approved the financial support focusing on financing national development programs under the pillar of human capital development.
He said that the reforms are in critical areas that stimulate growth in the areas of lands, mining, and other sectors that will improve inclusiveness such as education, gender and payment systems, improvement in the quality of transparency and good governance, procurement and improving the efficiency in state-owned enterprises.
Abdu Muwonge added that this year’s total commitment from the World Bank to the Government of Sierra Leone is $263 million of which $75M tranche happens to be the highest. He added that the support is a huge accomplishment of the World Bank to the Government of Sierra Leone.
He said that besides the $75m, the board of the bank also approved $60m towards improving health outcomes in the provinces, additional COVID-19 financing of $18.1M.
“We are on track as far as this financial year is concerned, Hon. Minister, my team is working on three other projects: social safety net $40m, Land administration project $40M, and the digital transformation projects $40M”, he said.
He concluded by calling on the government through the Ministry of Finance to monitor the implementation of the reforms and ensure that the outcomes are archived.
The Minister of Finance Dennis K. Vandi expressed delight over the approval of this year’s budget support by the World Bank.
He also appreciated the World Bank Country team, especially the World Bank Country Manager for overseeing the successful conclusion of the reform measures.
Dennis Vandi confessed that Sierra Leone benefited $100 million in 2020 from the World Bank under the Productivity and Transparency Support Credit. That disbursement he said supported reforms in various sectors of the economy, including support towards the creation of a Seed Certification Agency, the National Fertilizer Regulatory Agency, as well as reforms in the Ministry of Lands, Housing and Country Planning.
Minister Vandi said that the Government of Sierra Leone and the World Bank negotiated an amount of $75 million as budget support under the First Inclusive and Sustainable Growth Facility.
“This is intended to support reforms in various sectors of the economy that led to the development of the following Bills which have been tabled before Parliament for enactment. The Gender and Equality Bill, The Land Commission Bill, The Customary Land Right Bill, The Mines, and Mineral Bill, The Electronic Payment System and The National Switch Bill” said Dennis Vandi.
Minister Vandi concluded by reiterating government commitments to continue implementation reforms that aim at improving governance, fiscal sustainability, and transparency in the use of national resources.
On his Part, the Financial Secretary Sahr Lahai Jusu made commitment to ensuring that the grant is utilized well in order to improve the life of the people of Sierra Leone. He also assured other government agencies that the ministry of finance will fund programmes and projects towards achieving the outcomes of the program.