Sierra Leone’s Chief Minister, Dr David Moinina Sengeh has delivered a keynote address at the ongoing World Governments Summit in Dubai, highlighting President Dr. Julius Maada Bio’s ‘Big Five’ Agenda.

Dr Sengeh said that Sierra Leone was one of the leading global spenders in education which had significantly increased school enrolment, improved learning outcomes and provided opportunities for all including girls and children with disabilities. He affirmed government’s commitment to improve on the gains made in education as a sustainable foundation for growth and development.

He also noted that as part of President Bio’s Human Capital Development drive, the government had launched the ‘Feed Salone’ initiative to improve local food production, expand on food value chains, provide jobs for women and youth especially those in rural areas and support overall economic growth.

“We have created a platform through radical inclusion so everybody can show up and contribute to national development. 70% of our population is youthful so we have to ensure that people are learning the right skills to get jobs so that they can add value to the economy. We cannot do that if the public sector is not reformed. So, we have the public sector reform to ensure that what we do can go all the way to benefit the people in a just and equitable way. The final piece is innovation and infrastructure, so that is why it is really wonderful that this is the theme of the summit,”

“We are thinking bigger so we have a seven-year Medium National Development Plan which aligns with the Sustainable Development Goals 2030. President Bio has set a real standard for leadership by appointing women and young people in critical and flagship portfolios. It is important that we can have women and young people take up important portfolios,” he said.

Earlier, Dr. Sengeh also met with H.E. Mohamed Bin Taliah, Chief of the UAE Government Services, where they both explored several collaborative and transformative ways of improving public service delivery.