By Tanu Jalloh A survey report released by Ernst & Young (EY) on May 6, 2013 in Johannesburg, South Africa has justified the need for natural resource-rich countries in Africa to go beyond that wealth. EY is one of the largest professional service firms in the world and one of the ‘big four’ accounting firms, along with Deloitte, KPMG and PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC). According to its third... 

By Tanu Jalloh When the new minister of water resources was on Radio Democracy’s breakfast show on Tuesday 19 March this year, he said the country needed well over US$ 200 Million to fix the decaying water supply systems in the country. Momodu Maligi’s comments were a sort of correction or reaction to the interviewer’s assertion that the ministry would need close to the amount, apparently suggesting... 

Author By Dr. Kandeh K. Yumkella … the elements of inclusive and sustainable industrial development should be at the top of the list in discussions on the new development framework beyond 2015. And indeed, I do expect that the Secretary-General’s High-level Panel will look closely at the role of economic growth; and that the Open Working Group of Member States on Sustainable Development Goals –... 

By Tanu Jalloh The Petroleum Unit (PU), which falls under the control of the Trade and Industry ministry, is responsible for downstream petroleum activities—refining to marketing, although there is currently no refining. It is the regulatory body for the oil marketing companies (OMCs) who import and wholesale to distributors petrol, diesel, kerosene and heavy fuel (used for generating electricity). In... 

By Tanu Jalloh In my last article on this page I looked at the World Bank’s annual rankings of Doing Businessand what was Sierra Leone doing on those scalessince 2008. However, in that article I deliberately just laid the records or statistics bare andwithout any accompanying analyses, just so that a forum is created to tell a detailed story today. Of course my analyses now should be able to make... 

By Tanu Jalloh While investments and business generally seem to have boomed in the last five years and with prospects to grow in the coming year, 2013, the economy, which is supposed to be the driving force behind all of this, might have the deuce of a time getting there. Yes it is possible that in the New Year money supply will grow faster than the rate of economic growth, the cause of a long sustained... 

Before buying gold dust in Sierra Leone, please take a moment to read this warning! The U.S. embassy in Freetown warns all Americans engaging in gold dust transactions in Sierra Leone to exercise extreme caution before handing over any money. Recently, American citizens have been the targets of numerous gold dust scams. In most cases, losses total in the tens of thousands of dollars, though several... 

The authorities agreed with the staff assessment that monetary policy remains sufficiently tight to achieve the programmed inflation target. In this context, continued adherence to the new regulation on Bank of Sierra Leone (BSL) direct financing to the Government will beessential. Steadfast adherence to these regulations would provide opportunities for betterliquidity forecasting and for enhancing... 

By Tanu Jalloh Governments, especially in low-income countries like Sierra Leone, have had to put up with so much conditionality set by their donor partners and traditional benefactors like Britain. The first time I dealt with this matter was an effort meant to contextualise the extent of British support to this poor West African nation. I probably need to qualify that Sierra Leone is not a poor... 

By Tanu Jalloh “When the facts change, I change my opinion. What do you do Sir?” asks John Maynard Keynes. The twentieth century British economist had many revolutionary ideas, almost all of them were controversial, yet they profoundly affected the theory and practice of modern macroeconomics. Thus in the above quote he was concerned that markets are dynamic and uncertain, which is to say we all... 

Macroeconomic outcomes were broadly favorable in 2011. Economic activity expanded further, supported by output increases in agriculture, construction, and services, as well as the scaling-up of infrastructure investments; GDP growth is estimated at 6 percent (5.3 percent in 2010). End-year inflation, although down from 2010, remained in double digits (16.9 percent), reflecting both external price...