What Makes A Government Attractive to International Development Partners?

by Abdulai Braima

According to the man who has been managing the Sierra Leone economy so efficiently and so admirably under the New Direction, the answer to that question is simple:

“GOOD RECORD AND CORRECT LEADERSHIP”, says Minister J. J. Saffa, “is what has attracted the international community to Sierra Leone as they continue to take a keen interest in our activities and to positively support our efforts!”

Sure, anyone can garner the requisite knowledge and relevant experience, but without the patriotic passion and honesty of purpose to boot, no one would be able to steady an economy that was so volatile and operating on a deceptive quicksand, waiting to sink the state.

For a man who has stored a string of enviable accolades in the past, his most recent crowning as the Chairman of the West African Monetary Zone (WAMZ) early this month, is yet another indication of the esteem in which he is held by his colleague finance ministers even within our subregion.

Sure, anyone can garner the requisite knowledge and relevant experience, but without the patriotic passion and honesty of purpose to boot, no one would be able to steady an economy that was so volatile and operating on a deceptive quicksand, waiting to sink the state.

We have to bear in mind that just before the New Direction came into governance things had got so bad that even the IMF had to fold their files, pack their bags and flee, like fowls running from infected fleas.
The level of thievery was indiscriminate and almost indescribable!
Even the soon-to-be-released White Paper may not be able to fully capture the entire picture of the wanton robbery that became the order of the day (and night!). It was a rotten universe operating beyond the reach of available telescopic lenses.

What is clear is that in that inherited turbulence, the appointment of Mr. Jacob Jusu Saffa to head the pivotal Finance Ministry is a real mark of insightful leadership by President Julius Maada Bio. By choosing to appoint a smart man with safe hands to calm our economic environment, steadily and surely, we have been moving in the right direction.

The storms may not be completely over and the turbulence will always lock under some unexpected waves but we should be in no doubt that under this president and with such a core component of the hardworking team, the destination of the nation is beckoning bright and brilliant!

Trust the Process!