FT Insight December 2015
In this Issue Sierra Leone's Foreign Minister, Dr Samura Kamara discusses economic diplomacy & a vision of prosperity. We ask "Is a cashless SL really on the cards?" Crown Bakery’s Fadi Keserwani talks survival & success in Sierra Leone's tough business environment. And we interview one of Sierra Leone's newest change makers - Amara Kuyateh, Deputy DG of NASSIT. Plus read about Cordaid & the missing middle SMEs; Aspen’s prescription for healthy resilience and hear opinions from the sharp end - the incisive, decisive and concise.
In this Issue Sierra Leone's Foreign Minister, Dr Samura Kamara discusses economic diplomacy & a vision of prosperity. We ask "Is a cashless SL really on the cards?" Crown Bakery’s Fadi Keserwani talks survival & success in Sierra Leone's tough business environment. And we interview one of Sierra Leone's newest change makers - Amara Kuyateh, Deputy DG of NASSIT. Plus read about Cordaid & the missing middle SMEs; Aspen’s prescription for healthy resilience
and hear opinions from the sharp end - the incisive, decisive and concise.
Create successful ePaper yourself
Turn your PDF publications into a flip-book with our unique Google optimized e-Paper software.
The Government of Sierra Leone should<br />
have a two-pronged approach to build<br />
a resilient business sector. Firstly,<br />
revising tax structures and providing<br />
cost-effective infrastructure can<br />
help local manufacturing operations<br />
to prosper. Secondly, funding and<br />
incentive schemes for upcoming and<br />
unique businesses have to be provided<br />
in order to encourage new investors.<br />
This ensures the incoming national<br />
revenue stream is diversif ied and<br />
sustainable.<br />
Rajesh Hemnani, PeeCee & Sons<br />
Government needs to involve the<br />
relevant private sector organisations<br />
when adopting policies or improving<br />
infrastructure that concerns the<br />
respective industries.<br />
Randa Swaid, MD City Plaza and Swiss<br />
Spirit Hotel<br />
The government can build a more<br />
resilient business sector by ensuring<br />
that rules regarding registration,<br />
payments, collecting of revenue are all<br />
within published government rules<br />
and not subject to the whims of local<br />
off icials.<br />
Encourage entrepreneurship, especially<br />
amongst women! Bring in regulations<br />
that make it easy to do business in Sierra<br />
Leone, for example introduce a f lat and<br />
favourable tax rate, sort out the Leone<br />
currency maybe by pegging with another<br />
($£) which would build trust and stability<br />
amongst potential investors. Business<br />
(SMEs) needs security today in the form<br />
of infrastructure, technology and the<br />
standard basic business facilities so that<br />
investors can forecast their returns for<br />
tomorrow. Businesses also need the right<br />
demographics to utilise the products<br />
and services on offer, so government<br />
should be working to sort out welfare,<br />
youth unemployment etc. They also need<br />
to believe in their own; there are very<br />
capable Sierra Leoneans out there with<br />
international experience. I’m a living<br />
example of this and after attempting to<br />
move back home and settle, I have taken<br />
my knowledge and talent elsewhere on<br />
the African continent and registered my<br />
own advisory and consultancy company<br />
catering to the diamond mining industry.<br />
Satta Helen Matturi,<br />
MD, Ideal Luminance Consulting PTY Ltd<br />
John Daramy, CEO, Goldarama Ltd<br />
The government can support the resilience of small business by providing soft loans/ lines of credit<br />
for new product development that adds value to raw materials, particularly in agribusiness. It should<br />
support linking our universities or technical institutes to these small businesses for such product<br />
development. It should offer the same tax breaks to national businesses as it does to foreign<br />
investors, particularly where the small businesses employ at least 30 or more local employees in<br />
lower and middle management capacities. It should do this consistently for at least five years and<br />
see the result. Then it should replicate this for another five years depending on the result.<br />
Beatrice Chaytor, Independent Consultant on Trade Law and Policy<br />
Education, education, education.<br />
Randa Swaid, MD City Plaza and Swiss Spirit Hotel<br />
BEX SINGLETON<br />
&<br />
ERIKA PEREZ-LEON<br />
photo<br />
graphy<br />
video<br />
design<br />
bex@bexsingleton.com<br />
erikaperezleon@gmail.com
Change language