By: Thaimu Bai Sesay
Soliciting measures to solidify the economy, The Chief Director and Professional Head Ministry of Trade and Industry Emmanuel Billy Konjor has on Tuesday 21st November 2023 at the government press briefing intimated that the Sierra Leone Government had over the past five years intensified public private dialogue, acknowledging the private sector as the engine for jobs, growth and development.
“We have designed a deliverable, a position paper that effects policy change or shift in several Ministries and as well as with our development partners. We fully engage with them because we realize that the government cannot create all the jobs; it is the private sector that needs to create the jobs. And if the private sector has to create the jobs, they must be involved in the policy space right from the unset,” Trade and Industry Chief Director Konjor expressed.
Representing the public sector, Chief Director Emmanuel Billy Konjor in his statement at the briefing expressed that government recognized that the private sector is the engine for the country’s growth and development. As a Ministry he said they recognized the importance for the private sector to get a saying in the policy space. He intimated that they designed policies based on need, gap or cry from the public.
He intimated that they had two sets of private public dialogue saying one is sectorial, prioritizing the manufacture interests while the second is generic which he said emanates from emergency issues.
He said when Covid19 struck the world many new things emerged which he said they never prepared for, same to other countries.
He revealed that such destruction affected the global supply chain difficulties as many ships were unable to come, adding that China shutdown for almost two years.
“So we needed to have a conversation around on how to address these situations. The Ministry of Trade and Industry have worked to institutionalize public private dialogue as it is one of our mandates to look after the private sector and everyone engaging in the trade and industry business. We have to look at people from different levels and background of representation. The market women’s issues are different from the manufacturers’. So there is always a constant need for us to engage with the private sector,” Chief Director of trade and industry demystified.
Justifying his claims of constantly engaging with the private sector, Konjor referenced the recent visit of His Excellency the President to Saudi Arabia in which he affirmed that the President went there with some private sector players.
“Because when those private sectors engage with their counterpart is quite different from when the government is engaging with them,” he said.
Representing the private sector at the press briefing, the Deputy Secretary General of the Sierra Leone Importers Association Alhaji Sheriff Barrie started off by commending the government for recognizing their crucial role and for creating a room for dialogue, saying if Sierra Leone is to grow as a nation the private sector should be taken in the highest consideration.
Barrie added that if countries like the United States is progressing, the private sector played a fundamental role, as he said they were the highest employer.
“The government has thought it fit that the private sector should have a dialogue with the government as a way to move the country forward. The government indeed has too much burden in terms of employment but the private sector can as well assist the government in terms of jobs creation and policy formulation. As private sector we can also help to give confidence to our counterparts, as investors cannot come into this country without reaching at the private sector. And one of the things we have benefitted from the dialogue as a private sector is the adjustment on the threshold of only those with 500,000,000 Leones turnover can pay the GST tax as being put in the proposed 2024 Budget,” Importers Deputy S.G affirmed.
The Sierra Leone Importers Deputy Secretary General revealed some of their challenges within the private sector in which he said the sector could not speak with a sound and united force that would compel the government to take them more serious. He revealed that their inability to speak with a unified voice emanated from what he opined as lack of strong sounding chamber of commerce in the country. “That chamber of commerce supposed to be the umbra that captures the views of all the private sectors and send them to the government so that the government can take us very serious,” Barrie added.
Barrie continued that the other challenge, affecting the sector and business is the uncontrollable inflation. As a stepping stone towards curbing that effect, he however commended the government for bringing on board the private sector, as he assured that if the government prioritizes such a move with continuous engagements with the private sector, Sierra Leone would be transformed to the Dubai of the African Continent. He reinforced that they are the hub with the resolute and practical ideas to make it work.