By: Ilyasa Baa (Makeni)
The Republic of Sierra Leone through the Sierra Leone Consulate Planning Team, based in Finland, will benefit from business opportunities with an 85% grant to Finnish companies wanting to operate in Sierra Leone.
A twenty-seven-man delegation, headed by the Minister of Trade and Industry, Dr. Hinga Sandy, will be part of the Sierra Leone/Finland Investment Forum, scheduled to take place at Caisa Cultural Centre in Helsinki on 1st and 2nd September 2022.
The participants from Sierra Leone will include six representatives from the State House, four from the Parliament of Sierra Leone, others will be drawn from the National Investment Board and the Chamber of Commerce will also form part of the entourage. The High Commissioner to the United Kingdom, Dr. Morie Manyeh is expected to serve as the overall leader of the Sierra Leonean delegation that will grace the occasion.
This forum is powered by the Sierra Leone Consulate Planning Team, headed by Sorie Obai Kamara, aka Obi-phrase, a Sierra Leonean residing in Finland. He told this medium in an interview that the forum is gearing towards promoting investment opportunities by Finnish-owned companies for Sierra Leoneans at home.
He noted that such a forum has the potential to reduce poverty and create more investment opportunities for the country at a time like this when the government is searching for such opportunity for the betterment of its citizens. He said the delegation from Sierra Leone will get to know more about bringing investors into the country as there are many cooperative opportunities with Finns, especially in the areas of agriculture, technology, industrial services, tourism, housing as well as real estate investments.
This forum is inspired by Finland’s Africa Strategy, companies and their government is going to support this forum morally and financially for the good of our impoverished nation. In terms of funding this forum, the Finnish Government and the Government of Sierra Leone will take the lead followed by auxiliary institutions such as Finn Partnership, Finn Fund and Business Finland.
It could be recalled that Mr. Kamara, who happens to be the founder of the Ripsta Culture Foundation, had facilitated a trip to Finland involving the Minister of Tourism and Cultural Affairs, Dr. Memunatu Pratt, and the Director of Cultural Affairs, Foday Jalloh who used that opportunity to promote the country’s touristic values amongst Finns.
