The GIZ and Sierra Leone Local Content Agency (SLLCA) in collaboration with other Ministries, Departments and Agencies have on Wednesday, February 17, 2021, held a Regional Resource Governance (ReGo) stakeholder consultation at the Hotel Barmoi in Freetown.
The workshop was well attended by representatives from the, Ministry of Mines and Minerals Resources, Environment Protection Agency (EPA), Search for Common Grounds, and civil society organizations.
The objective of the ReGo is to ensure that the extractive sector in the Mano River Union countries is driven by the principles of social, economic and environmental sustainability.
In his presentation, the Director General of SLLCA, Fodaba Daboh said that they are using a demand-driven and multi-stakeholder approach to improve Sierra Leone’s mineral sector. “The project focusses on advising and supporting key governmental institutions, civil society organizations and potentially the private sector on how to manage mineral resources efficiently and sustainably so that the country and its people can derive future benefit,” DG Daboh added.
He disclosed that they cannot count their achievements without mentioning GIZ, noting that GIZ is their trusted donor partner.
He disclosed that one of the Agency primary goals is to ensure sufficient linkages between Foreign Direct Investment and resilient domestic economy. He stated that GIZ has been very supportive to ensure that the Agency has a reporting system that companies would use to report on their local content performance which the Agency uses to generate appropriate reports to inform government decisions.
DG Daboh said that despite the global challenges, the Agency has improved on companies reporting compliance, linked domestic businesses, and increase on business registration, among several achievements. He maintained that the Agency 2021 plan include: to review the Agency’s Act, rollout a database to record Sierra Leonean with critical skills that are often replace by foreign nationals, monitor & evaluate MDAs & INGOs-Procurement – Local Content Procurement Plan, improve on companies reporting and general compliance, and collaborate with GIZ to undertake Local Content Study in the Mano River Union (MRU).
He called for effective coordination and collaboration to achieve the medium-term development goals, and hence the relationship with GIZ.
By Stephen V. Lansana
23/02/2021. ISSUE NO: 8007