Minister of Tourism and Cultural Affairs (Ministry of Tourism and Cultural Affairs)

Sierra Leone has a wonderful heritage and history of many firsts in Africa. The country has experienced outstanding growth for over a decade making it one of the fastest growing economies in Africa. In your own words, what are the main comparative advantages of Sierra Leone within the West African region? 

We will say we combine our natural beauty, our peace and stability with our culture and tradition that has put us in an enviable position. Sierra Leone has so many beautiful beaches, that you cannot find anywhere else in the world and these beaches are spread right across the Country, every district has beaches. Western Area alone which is where you can find the capital city, Freetown, has about eight (8) beaches, and lot of them have not been touched, they have not been developed and they have not be altered. So the nature is still there. In addition to that we still have so many forested areas, the amount of green scenery that you can find in Sierra Leone when travelling across the country, you can hardly find anywhere else in the world. Our country is mainly of hills, mountains and of course the sea. When driving across the country, you see the mountains, hills they are all green because we have not had so many problems wherein the forest, have been altered for industrial or building purposes. The country also has suitable areas for ecotourism, as it is the new phenomenon. We have natural lakes, forested areas, mountainous areas that are suitable for mountain climbing. It does not matter the type of tourism whether it is beach tourism, ecotourism, adventure tourism and sport tourism we have the attractions for all. We also come to the culture and traditional aspect of it. We have over seventeen (17) tribes and all have their unique cultures. So you will find out that we have diverse cultures but each unique to a particular tribe. All of these different cultures and traditions are living side by side, cohabiting together with no dispute among them. We come to the peace and stability, yes we have been through civil war for a decade but that has been declared over since 2002. After the civil war, unlike some other countries we have held three (3) successive elections and all have been free, fair, credible and peaceful by the international community. Since then we have enjoyed peace and stability, democratic freedom wherein people have the right to express themselves freely. Sierra Leone is the most religious tolerance country in the world. This is the only country where Muslims and Christians intermarriage. They will live in the same house peacefully, each practicing his/her religion. During Ramadan, all the nightclubs are closed even for the Christians as a way of showing respect for the holy month. On Eids and Christmas, both Christians and Muslims celebrate together. The country has an interreligious council that is strong. These are all positive things that put us in very competitive advantage to other countries.

The disastrous Ebola epidemic has devastated Sierra Leone and had tremendous consequences on the country’s GPD growth in 2014 reaching a -20% low. The social and human impact has also been disastrous with about 11000 people death count. However, His Excellency has implemented a Post Ebola Recovery Strategy Plan to attract FDIs and reassure the international community. To you, what has to be done to fully recover from this tragedy?

Government has decided to diversify the economy and it is focusing on areas referred to as the growth sector. In the growth sector, we have tourism, agriculture, fisheries and trade. These are the areas they are focusing on. For us in the tourism industry, we want to achieve two things- one, we want to be able to market and rebrand the country. In the sense that we want people out there to know the investment opportunities that exist in the country in areas of tourism. I have mentioned the many beaches and the islands that we have that have not be touched. These are areas of opportunities for people who want to develop more top of the line hotels; people who want to build casinos and nightclubs. These areas are also available for investment opportunities. Secondly, we want people to understand that, this is a beautiful country for tourist of all kinds. Tourist can come in and would not have to worry about security, religious tension and even the people. 

The President outlined a strategy focused on key sectors of the economy- energy, agriculture and fisheries, natural resources (mining, petroleum) and infrastructure- that will pave the way for future international investors. Considering the importance of FDIs for country, what would enhance the business climate of Sierra Leone to attract more foreign investment?

During the war, lot of infrastructure were destroyed. Tourists and investors left the country. Now we see lot of people coming back. Hotels are back and we hope to see more brand hotels. The airlines have also started coming back. Hopefully, that will also open the country up to more tourist and investors. And as long as we continue to market and rebrand, letting people know all of these opportunities as far as investment is concerned. Also, make the world know all of the positive qualities about our country. 

The tourism sector has always been overshadowed by other sectors and left behind. However, the country has got wonderful heritage and natural beauties- beaches, national parks, mountain, Kono, Makeni…It is said that Sierra Leone has the most beautiful beaches in West Africa. We would love to understand the main challenges in your sector and the opportunities. In your words, what can be done to put tourism at the centre of Sierra Leone’s growth?

Investment in tourism in the past has not being as much as we are seeing now. Tourism was not priority but now that the government have diversified the economy, so much emphasis has been placed on tourism. In Sierra Leone, most of our attractions are river and we want to see how best we can ease access to these attractions through sea transportation. 

The tourism ministry has got a vision and a plan to make Sierra Leone an attractive destination for European Tourism – what are the roles and responsibilities of the Ministry Of Tourism and Culture in enhancing in improving Sierra Leone as a tourist destination?

Apart from just selling the natural beauties and the attractions that we have, we are also focusing on addressing those things that we feel are posing difficulties for people to come into our country. For instance, the cost to come into Sierra Leone is far more expensive compare to those of other countries. So we are working with the ministry of transport and aviation to see how prizes can drop. Also, accessing visa to Sierra Leone is very difficult. Probably major reason tourists shy away from coming to Sierra Leone. We are working with immigration to see how we can do visa on arrival for certain countries. We are also working to see how people can apply and pay for their visas online making it easy for them. These are some of the things we are looking to address in order to make Sierra Leone a tourist destination.

Sierra Leone is a beautiful country even though we did not have much time to visit all the country, we have heard a lot about its natural beauty – what are your plans to build Sierra Leone as the tourist destination in West Africa? 

We want to attract people through events, other countries do lot of conferences. In Sierra Leone, people do not know that we have the facility to host international conference. We have the Bintumani conference centre that has all the facilities, so we want to open that up and let institutions and agencies know that we can host whatever international conference. That is one way we can attract people and organisations like the AFDU, ECOWAS, Mano River Union meetings and even the sub- Africa union meeting. Also, we want to do cultural activities that will have international flavour. For instance, the Sierra Leone annual carnival normally held in April before Independence Day. We want to open that up so other countries like the Gambia, Guinea and Ivory Coast can be part of it. 

According to an interview you have done with the AWOKO, you believe that the tourism industry can sustain Sierra Leone’s economy- why did you say that? What makes you think it could happen?

Tourism could be the main revenue generator ministry for the country and the highest employer of the country. This is because when you look at the numerous areas of investment in tourism, you talk about casinos, night clubs, hotels, restaurants; these are all areas you create jobs for the locals and brining in revenue every day to the country. It’s also, one of the sustainable ways to generate foreign currency. Furthermore, making the right investment, develop infrastructures, building the capacity of the ministry itself, making sure that all of the regulations are set right, the law, the policies, the act all in place to protect the investment and the investors and ensure that what the government is suppose to realise from the investment is realised. 

You have been in this government for some time now as you have worked in different areas- health for example- what are you most proud of?

First of all, I know am only here because of my past performances in my previous roles. I worked with the ministry of health, first as Health Information Officer and when the free health care was introduced I helped built the Supply Chain Management System. I was in charge of the channel software that was used to trace drugs that where supplied to different health centres across the country and that worked very well. Later, I became the director of ICT in the ministry of health. I helped worked on the tenement project that is now at the Connaught hospital. When the Ebola struck, I was the spokesperson for Ebola. It was a very difficult job but I think I performed very well which is what got me here. Now that I am here, am glad so far with what have been able to accomplish within the six (6) or seven (7) months have been minister. Almost on the verge of completing the construction of the first cultural village, that will serve as a centre for training of culture and tradition of Sierra Leone. Also, on the process of constructing a national art gallery to showcase different aspect of arts; visual art, performing art, media art. I am in the process of reviewing the 1990 development of tourism Act. We have also completed the review of the national monument and reflex Act of 1967. We have done the cultural policy, the ecotourism policy and the tourism policy.    

Personal message to EbizGuides readership to attract investors to Sierra Leone

Sierra Leone is not a country of blood diamond. The country is very stable and peaceful. The government has gone a long way in making the environment right for foreign direct investment. We have a lot of direct foreign investment in the country, we have Hilton hotel under construction, Radisson Blu hotel operating. Government is giving a lot of concession in terms of tax and duty waivers to people who want to invest in the tourism industry as well as other industries. We are running under a democratically elected government, wherein everyone has rights and the freedom to speak freely. The government is also very tough in fighting corruption. Investors do not have to worry about tensions, instability and their investment not being protected.