There have been sporadic confrontations between state authorities and street traders over the use of public spaces in Freetown. These confrontations on the streets and pavements of the city now seem to occur every year with no sign of meaningful resolution. Streets are, by law, meant to facilitate the movement of vehicles, and pavements help […]
Reverse the Curse
“Reverse the Curse: Maximizing the Potential of Resource Driven Economies” by Mckinsey is a very good reference document for evaluating how we are doing in realizing our 2035 Vision of Sierra Leone as a middle-income country. It not only confirms that we are on the right path, but gives us hope of better days to […]
Africa Needs Technocrats
Here is a curious article by Ronak Gopaldas on ThisIsSierraLeone.com arguing that Africa needs technocrats in the lead rather than politicians; as if one can do without the other!
In my view, the clarion call should be for African politicians to encourage and work with technocrats especially in the field of public policy. Technocrats should be utilised to the full rather than marginalise, isolate or even keep them away.
How to Understand Mining Contracts
Just returned from a week out in an island off Chesapeake bay with a dozen or so people from different parts of world, where we produced a book on how to understand mining contracts. The book is intended for negotiators, civil society activists, parliamentarians etc. We used a known Civil Society activist Abu, as our […]
Getting the Story Right for the Mining Sector
There is a widespread perception that our mineral resources are not serving the interests of the country; is this true? Some argue that bad agreements allow foreign investors to get away with the lion’s share, leaving very little for the country. Some also think that one of the major problems is that the ore is […]
Mano River Union Security Strategy
Done! Ministers from the four member states of the Mano River Union met in Conkary and have adopted the draft Security Strategy for submission to the Heads of States. I led a team of three consultants, including Patrice Vahard and Zannoubo Vinagnon, to draft the Strategy. It was then reviewed, refined and validated by experts […]