By Mabinty M. Kamara
The World Bank Vice President for Western and Central Africa, Ousmane Diagana has commended Sierra Leone’s effort in human capital development through access to education. He says the small West Africa Country of Sierra Leone is among few nations with about 20 percent budgetary allocation to education.
“This is one of the few countries in Africa that allocate more than 20 percent of the budget to education. In the context of the human capital agenda, Sierra Leone remains a priority. Education is fundamental,” Diagana said.
He added: “The international standards suggest that to make an improvement in the educational system, states should demonstrate the willingness in allocating a minimum of 20 percent in education and unfortunately, Africa’s average is around 15 percent. So Sierra Leone is 6 percent above that”.
The vice president made this commendation during a meeting with senior government officials of Sierra Leone on Thursday, 10th February 2022 at State House in Freetown.
The vice president said that the meeting was an opportunity for both parties to learn and listen to plans of the development trajectory of projects implemented. He said Sierra Leone is a country with opportunities but that it has all been affected by crises such as the Ebola pandemic, mudslide, COVID, etc.
However, he said he has seen signs of stability and hope during his brief visits to the country.
Vice President Diagana noted that there is a very good relationship between the country and the World Bank.
Speaking on their recent interventions in the country, he said the Bank last month disbursed 75 million dollars to Sierra Leone, noting that we are in a situation of a health crisis with COVID still around impacting on humans and the economy. In addition, he said they have also completed the process for additional financing of 18.2 million dollars to ensure that vaccines continue to be available and administered in the country.
That notwithstanding, he stated the COVID crisis should serve as a lesson to invest in the health sector and strengthen the health system in preparation for a future crisis that could happen. Diagana pointed out that a strong and resilient system in place could create the possibility to address a crisis and mitigate its negative impact.
He said their portfolio for Sierra Leone comprises a wide range of factors and operational areas such as energy, infrastructure, human capital development, education, social protection, etc. with a budget of close to 1 billion dollars.
In his remarks, Sierra Leone’s Chief Minister, Jacob Jusu Saffa said that the World Bank works with Sierra Leone’s National Development Plans, noting that the Bank does not own any project but that the projects are owned by the government of Sierra Leone with funding support by the financing institution.
Speaking on the Country Policy and Institutional Assessment (CPIA), Saffa said that the support that a country gets determines its rating on the CPIA which he said is what the World Bank and as well as the Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC) use to grade a country. He said his Office is committed to supporting the Ministry of Finance to ensure that they improve on the CPIA scores. “These are the easy things to do. If we do them, we get more money,”Saffa admitted.
He said that the World Bank has constructed Multi-dollar office space in Freetown which means they are here to stay. He said that the country has maintained a good relationship and is committed to continuing doing the good things not because the Bank wanted them to do it but because they thought it right to do it.
Ousmane Diagana will join President Bio to formally commission the World Bank's new Country Office in Freetown on Friday, February 11, 2022. There are also plans to visit World Bank’s supported project sites.
Ousmane Diagana has served as the World Bank Country Director for Côte d’Ivoire, Burkina Faso, Benin, Guinea, and Togo, based in Abidjan. He also held the position of Country Director for Mali, Niger, Chad, and Guinea, based in Bamako. Between 2006 and 2009, Diagana was Country Manager in Niger, and from 2004 to 2006, he was Program Leader in Morocco. This is his first visit to Sierra Leone since he took office as the Vice President in July 2020.
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