The Chia Report

Sierra Leone on a Steady Road to Recovery: Open for Business

By Innocent Chia, DUNIA Editor-in-Chief - Blog: ChiaReport Twitter: @InnoChia

Beginning with Sierra Leone, Dunia Magazine is embarking on a series that will be exploring mutations that are unfolding even in erstwhile war-torn countries in Africa. The sing-song across the board has been of Africa “the Continent of the future” brandishing six of the world’s fastest growing economies; a far cry from the narrative of a not too distant past which condemned the Continent to inevitable doom. The question begs to be asked, whether this doomsday narrative is really in the rearview mirror for a growing number of citizens? Are they feeling the rise out and above from the poverty line of $1.25 a day? Such is the promise of President Koroma’s second term “Agenda for Prosperity” to help 80% of the population of Sierra Leone rise above the poverty line by the year 2035. Dr. Bai Koroma, a former insurance salesman, has been putting up a gargantuan sales pitch to his people and the world that Sierra Leone is “open for business”. His immediate challenge, however, is tackling the worst Ebola virus outbreak that has consumed the lives of over 200 Sierra Leoneans and counting.

Notes from a Vacationer’s Dairy

By Julius Nyamkimah Fondong

Nsimalen Airport

For an international airport Nsimalen isn’t bad at all. For one thing, it is everything that the Douala Airport is not: it is clean, spacious and better organized. Since the airport is in the habit of playing host to international and national VIPs, you will find the staff at Nsimalen (police, gendarmes, customs, immigration, airport authority etc) exceptionally cautious and polite. The hassles and affairisme you find at the Douala International Airport are markedly absent at Nsimalen. 

I arrived at Nsimalen from Paris on the same flight as the Minister of State, Secretary-General at the Presidency, Laurent Esso.  So immigration and customs clearance was quick and easy. And that’s the beauty of Nsimalen: since most flights usually come in with VIPs, you’re most likely to be mistaken for a member of some official delegation or part of some VIP’s entourage and waved through, especially if you’re  formally dressed and speaking  English with a foreign accent.