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Tony Blair praises the remarkable pace of private sector development during his latest visit to Freetown

Tony Blair, Founder of the Africa Governance Initiative, was in Sierra Leone this week to review the progress of AGI’s Sierra Leone programme and to see for himself the rapid development of its private sector.

With an in-country team, AGI works full-time with the President and his government, providing practical advice and support on the “nuts and bolts” of effective governance that will help the Sierra Leone government to achieve their ambitious poverty reduction programme.

Tony Blair said, “In Sierra Leone today, I see hope for the future and evidence of a country on the move. Agribusiness and tourism investments this year have exceeded $200 million, creating jobs and improving livelihoods and the abolition of hospital user fees in April last year means three times as many children are now being treated in hospitals. The AGI team and I are incredibly privileged to be supporting President Koroma and his government as they work to tackle poverty by reforming public services and promoting sustainable economic growth.”

President Koroma said, “I am delighted to welcome Tony Blair back to Freetown. My government and I have been working with Tony and the AGI team since 2008. I have seen AGI's impact in the way my government functions and in its capacity to assist in the implementation of my priorities in health, agriculture and private sector development. With their support, we are able to drive the change that we want to see in the everyday lives of the Sierra Leonean people.”

As part of his trip, Tony Blair visited Africa Felix, a juice processing factory in Sierra Leone’s newly created ‘Special Economic Zone” (SEZ).  The SEZ was launched last month by President Koroma with the aim of producing the first significant value-added exports in Sierra Leone’s post war history. Mangoes are a prime example of Sierra Leone’s export potential. Though mangoes are plentiful in Sierra Leone, the mango juice sold in Freetown comes mostly from Lebanon. Now Africa Felix, the zone’s first tenants, have started to produce mango and pineapple juice concentrate with fruit supplied by Sierra Leone’s smallholder farmers. Like all future tenants of the 50-acre zone, Africa Felix will not pay duty or tax on goods or capital equipment they import.

The creation of the Special Economic Zone is the latest development in President Koroma’s drive to boost economic growth. The AGI team supports the Sierra Leone Investment and Export Promotion Agency (SLIEPA) on attracting investors, deal execution and investor care as well as supporting the President’s Private Sector Advisor and the Ministry of Trade. Since the Sierra Leone Trade and Investment Forum, held in London 18 months ago with the generous support of DfID and which AGI helped organise, investor interest in SLIEPA has increased by 240%. January saw a landmark $200m investment from Siva Group, an Indian conglomerate, into oil palm, an investment which will create up to 5,000 jobs. And growth is diversifying. Outside of agribusiness and mining, tourism also received a big boost in March with the announcement that the Mammy Yoko Hotel is to be taken over and re-branded by the Radisson Blue international hotel chain.

The AGI team also supports the Sierra Leone government in the President’s priority areas of health and agriculture, with two advisors embedded in the respective ministries where they work with government counterparts on the skills, systems and structures of successful reform.

AGI advisors work at strategically important points in government, in the Strategy and Policy Unit and the President’s Office as well as in Ministries, helping bridge the ‘implementation gap’ between the President’s vision for a better future for Sierra Leone and the government’s capacity to achieve it. Tony Blair visits Freetown regularly in his role as AGI Patron and pro bono strategic advisor to President Koroma and his government. In recognition of his continuing support to Sierra Leone’s development, and of Great Britain’s role helping to bring Sierra Leone’s devastating civil war to an end in 2001 under his premiership, the Sierra Leonean President presented Tony Blair with the Jubilee Award during the country’s celebrations of its 50^th anniversary of independence. The award was handed over to Mr Blair in a ceremony at State House today.