Visa Upon Arrival in Sierra Leone: Prospects and Challenges
The Visa upon Arrival Policy for visiting tourists and business person into Sierra Leone has just been launched by the Minister of Tourism Memunatu B. Pratt PhD. This for many pan-Africanists is also one step closer to the 'Single Passport' for African nations being highly anticipated for by Pan Africanists as visitors from across the West African Sub-region will not be required to pay for Visa.
The initiative is expected to open opportunities to new businesses and other job market opportunities for Sierra Leoneans, and of course boost diplomatic relationship between Sierra Leone and its sister nations in the continent and the world across.
In the meantime, while we patiently wait in anticipation of good things, I believe we should be thinking about possible adjustments to make in order to realize its full benefits.
We are not among countries with alarming unemployment rate, but I can assure you that our employed many are underemployed (salary scale and earning are too low and not catching up with inflation trend). Major reason being the lack of other job option as the the public sector still accounts for the highest employment in the country. Our workers cannot afford to save, and people that do not save can hardly invest. As a result, the greater proportion of our employed labour force mostly rely on one source of income, which is bad for SMEs.
We are not among countries with alarming unemployment rate, but I can assure you that our employed many are underemployed (salary scale and earning are too low and not catching up with inflation trend). Major reason being the lack of other job option as the the public sector still accounts for the highest employment in the country. Our workers cannot afford to save, and people that do not save can hardly invest. As a result, the greater proportion of our employed labour force mostly rely on one source of income, which is bad for SMEs.
Secondly, the private sector is weak, local businesses are finding it hard to compete with foreigners in the market. The Asians are at the top of affairs when it comes to business. They are the big importers of stock and, consequently, they control the economy and pricing. Though there is no official figure on the remittance inflow and outflow, but activists are concerned that capital repatriation could be doing a great damage to the economy as foreigners are in domination in expertise positions with greater pay across multinational companies and NGOs, and in the business landscape. Hence, the government should consider promoting the Public Private Partnership (PPP) initiative, especially with young entrepreneur.
furthermore, local SMEs find it difficult to qualify for loan in our banking system due to lack of collateral. They mostly rely on foreign businesses to loan them stock and operate their businesses. hence, they are left with little choice but to serve as intermediaries/middle-men selling at higher cost. Therefore, it is imperative for Government not only encourage local businesses to thrive through loan scheme opportunities but lessen the interest-charges for business groups (that way the collateral weight could lessen).
Another challenge we are faced with as a country is the high tariff and service charges (GST). Government want to ensure 20% of its GDP is sourced from taxation, which is actually a beautiful thing to imagine, but extortive for a country with collapsing economy. We need to open our doors to more importers to compete with our sister nations (Guinea and Liberia). This is not the 1900s when ports were something hard to find. Today our neighbouring countries have replenished theirs and are thriving too. We should encourage businesses to import through Sierra Leone to open up more job opportunities and tax collection. We cannot afford to rely on buying Franc Guinea and Dollars to do business in the future. The charges should be lessened to encourage local businesses to thrive and attract more foreign businesses. Unlike Guinea, we share boundary with only two countries, and both of them have ports. Guinea is neighbour to many landlocked countries shipping their businesses through their port.
Another challenge we are faced with as a country is the high tariff and service charges (GST). Government want to ensure 20% of its GDP is sourced from taxation, which is actually a beautiful thing to imagine, but extortive for a country with collapsing economy. We need to open our doors to more importers to compete with our sister nations (Guinea and Liberia). This is not the 1900s when ports were something hard to find. Today our neighbouring countries have replenished theirs and are thriving too. We should encourage businesses to import through Sierra Leone to open up more job opportunities and tax collection. We cannot afford to rely on buying Franc Guinea and Dollars to do business in the future. The charges should be lessened to encourage local businesses to thrive and attract more foreign businesses. Unlike Guinea, we share boundary with only two countries, and both of them have ports. Guinea is neighbour to many landlocked countries shipping their businesses through their port.
In addition, in order to attract mega businesses and tourists, we should emphasize general infrastructure overhauling. We should fix the infrastructure of the country, especially Freetown in all infrastructural sense. We have been experiencing flooding and other preventable disasters almost every year. It is clear that Freetown is not well planned and of course over crowded. We need to widen our roads and irrigation system to permit easy navigation and smooth flow of water, respectively. the need for stable electricity supply cannot be overemphasized. It takes more than giving visa upon arrival to make Sierra Leone a business strategic point. We need stable and consistent electricity supply for the operation of manufacturing industries and warehousing.
investment in Agriculture is also focal to the achievement of this objective. One sure way we could cut down import rate and control inflation, while at the same time ensuring food security, is to invest in agriculture through infrastructural and capacity building related programmes.
Lastly, but not the least, we should improve our security, in both its physical and economic wise. Opening doors to more people from different nations should be done with caution. The continent is troubled with Islamists extremists, drug dealers, human traffickers, and of course seriously ill people. The last time I checked in at Lungi Airport (07/12/2018) the scanning machine (security apparatus) was not working. You could literally bribe your way in if you have anything to smuggle in. We on-boarded from Bamako, transited in Accra, and Lome, the airports were world class, security wise. Vaccine cards are something we cannot rely on, especially for our sister nations in Africa. They are sold out like cake across the continent, we would have people come in with contagious and untreatable diseases if we are not careful. We need good healthcare centers that are world class. We should be proactive, and promote community policing to counter crimes and report cases.
I however cannot close this piece without reminding us of what is going on in South Africa. Violent protesters are accusing foreigners of taking their jobs. Unemployment rate in South Africa is among the worst in the world. We don't want to see that happen to our youth.
Madam Minister, please encourage our youths to be trained in skill jobs, and promote the local content act.
*My opinion*
©AWJ
®SAWN
Lastly, but not the least, we should improve our security, in both its physical and economic wise. Opening doors to more people from different nations should be done with caution. The continent is troubled with Islamists extremists, drug dealers, human traffickers, and of course seriously ill people. The last time I checked in at Lungi Airport (07/12/2018) the scanning machine (security apparatus) was not working. You could literally bribe your way in if you have anything to smuggle in. We on-boarded from Bamako, transited in Accra, and Lome, the airports were world class, security wise. Vaccine cards are something we cannot rely on, especially for our sister nations in Africa. They are sold out like cake across the continent, we would have people come in with contagious and untreatable diseases if we are not careful. We need good healthcare centers that are world class. We should be proactive, and promote community policing to counter crimes and report cases.
I however cannot close this piece without reminding us of what is going on in South Africa. Violent protesters are accusing foreigners of taking their jobs. Unemployment rate in South Africa is among the worst in the world. We don't want to see that happen to our youth.
Madam Minister, please encourage our youths to be trained in skill jobs, and promote the local content act.
*My opinion*
©AWJ
®SAWN
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