The question aside from what the country has, is what is the country willing to put on the table to attract investors?

A market scene in Sierra Leone     Photo courtesy

President Koroma’s address We Have no Business Being Poor! still shows the typical African leadership approach: We have this mineral, that mineral and we will give tax benefits, and so forth. Nowhere does the President mention what equity the country wants to put up to attract investments, and what sector[s] need to be developed in order to have the skill needed to run the enterprise called Sierra Leone.  

Without solid education that trains labor, no country will emerge. Labor helps to create wealth and not the presence of minerals; an unearned resource that has continued to confuse Africans as to what really matter in nation building and development. Labor needs to act on mineral in a manner to make it useful and valuable before any meaningful financial benefit is unleashed or realized. 

Africa forgets that without local skilled labor and/or ability to develop one, no major investor comes. And when/if they come, they come with their staff and labor cost is high, leaving the host country little or no money. Sierra Leone with a population less than 9 million, has less than 10% of its population at a level to enter certain industry. There are less than 10,000 engineers, doctors, lawyers, accountants and computer experts, among others, in Sierra Leone. The bulk of the population are persons under the age of 25, with little formal education to enable them function in a competitive sector or industry.   

I hope the President succeeds. He sounds optimistic but I am yet to see meat in his utterances; typical of African leaders. Money attracts money, and without it, one needs to be creative in leveraging and Africans have not learnt how. African leaders are timid in negotiating favorable conditions to help their countries emerge. It has nothing to do with intention; it is more about how to leverage and turn over when the timing is right. East or West, Africa has to internally re-generate and play down on expectations given to undue investors who only milk her. Investors are leeches and if one is not watching, they take all they can get and leave one high and dry.  

Sierra Leone may have every inch of her territory flowing with minerals but that does not mean a thing because they do not have the local know-how to bring it to the surface. Moreover, they do not have the financial resources to attract good partners. When one depends on royalties paid by mining and oil companies, it is like an entertainer that allows another to produce their show and pay them royalty. When one produces their show, one controls revenue, expense and keeps good profit.  

As Africans celebrate the presence and or exploitation of minerals from their ground, they fail to tell their citizens how much they expect to make. For instance, most oil companies in Africa pay royalties of less $3.00 per barrel of produced oil or ton in the case of solid minerals. Let's say Sierra Leone were to produce 100m barrels annually because its reserves are not proven, it is likely to receive about $300m or less, and that is no money for a country whose needs runs in the billions. But such condition can be reversed with good negotiating skills. Mineral development is an expensive capital project and invested capital needs to be returned before host countries make any revenue.  

Mr. President, Sierra Leone is at least 10 years away from seeing any revenue from oil. But there are other sectors that can be developed first and fast, giving the country the presence of mind to deal with hard sectors such as oil. Oil companies are tough/merciless on developing countries because they recognize the dependence and exploit their weakness, especially when a few higher ups, are willing to cut deals under the table for personal gains rather than for the overall benefit of the national treasury.  

Sierra Leone should explore setting up an Infrastructure Development Fund to use to match and or attract major investments so that her citizens home and abroad can have stake in future developments. The president may be good inspiring and motivating, but he may not be good being the mechanic to deliver the vehicle. He needs to surround himself with folks that 'think/act-outside-the-box', who have the credibility to help him deliver.  

Despite the fact that he has a business background, his business experience coupled with his new executive powers have not brought any meaningful partner/investor to the table. Therein, lies the challenge leading one's enterprise and running a country that has been weakened by years of civil wars, and a population that is less confident. 

By the way, I have been appointed an Investment and Export Promotion Representative by a Mid Eastern country. By this position, I will represent them in US/Texas and help channel investment opportunities between them and US. If a Mid Eastern country can do, I wonder why Sierra Leone whose Ambassador I hosted and presented a gift to its president never even acknowledged such gesture.A country I visited in April, never hosted anyone from their country but based on references, gave me such an opportunity. It goes to say, we Africans never recognize our own. 

By Ejike Okpa II

Dallas, Texas.