Where did we go wrong in the first place, and why and how we did end up the way we are without significant progress to hold on to from the past? The impact on our infrastructures, projects and developments, security and sovereign integrity is nothing good to write home about. If we fail to do so now, a generation will take the bull by the horn in time to come holding our conscience in memory responsible, when we would have gone with the wind with nothing positive left in the annals of history to be the legacy for the children of tomorrow.
All the stock exchanges in the world are pre-occupied with Africa’s gold, diamonds, uranium, platinum, copper and iron ores. Our capital flows out in streams to irrigate the whole system of Western economy. Africa provides more than 60 per cent of the world’s gold. A great deal of the uranium for nuclear power, of copper for electronics, of titanium for supersonic projectiles, of iron and steel for heavy industries, of other minerals and raw materials for lighter industries – the basic economic might of the foreign Powers – comes from our continent. In Sierra Leone we are blessed with many of these minerals resources than even others who are making steady progress like Rwanda for example who do not have a single mineral potential but human resource capacity and have been through a war far devastating than ours making rapid progress in their socio economic development and especially business capacity outsourcing in manpower.
We must start looking at all options but focused on some of our industries which can impact directly on the economy by reviving them rather than doing away with for pittance. This would not only increase the country’s foreign exchange earnings but also offer job