By Umaru Fofana
The Gambian Managing Director of ECOBANK Sierra Leone, Lucretia Aina Moore was one of the recipients of the 2021 Independence Day awards by President Julius Maada Bio.
She was awarded the Grand Officer of the Order of the Rokel (GOOR), one of the country’s highest honours.
The citation points out “her outstanding service in the field of banking”.
As the ECOBANK country head Mrs Moore “has been at the forefront of the bank’s drive to digitise the banking sector in Sierra Leone while advancing the country’s financial inclusion agenda”.
Reacting to her award, the highly articulate Mrs Moore told Politico thus: “I don’t know how to express myself. This award came as a huge surprise to me and it was most unexpected”.
She went on: “I know this award is given to very few non-Sierra Leoneans and I deeply appreciate the rare honour by a country I came to know some 33 years ago when I came to study at Fourah Bay College”.
In fact Mrs Moore’s love affair with Sierra Leone started way before then when she was at the Methodist Primary School in Banjul.
Back then, the pupils were asked to represent a Commonwealth country on Commonwealth Day, learn about it and dress up like a national of that country and prepare one of its meals.
It was then that young Aina learned Sierra Leone’s national anthem by heart and still sings it up to this day.
She wore a print dress then, and sang songs by Afro National and Sabano 75 because growing up her parents used to play songs by those bands. So it was easy for her to come up with some of those songs in school.
After studying economics at FBC, she proceeded to Leeds University for her Master’s degree.
She has been working for ECOBANK in Sierra Leone for 11 years, the last six of which have been as its head.
“This award just crowns my special love for Sierra Leone, and this country truly feels like home to me”, Mrs Moore said.
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