By Nasratu Kargbo
Mohamed Bangura Director of Credit Risk Management at Apex Bank Sierra Leone has stated that bad road networks remain a challenge in ensuring farmers transport their goods from production sites to marketplaces in good condition.
Speaking on the 18th May 2023 at an event organized in Freetown to sign an agreement between the International Labour Organization (ILO) and four institutions in a bid to create decent jobs, Bangura emphasized that damaged roads have immensely affected the linkage between the farms and the market.
Explaining his institution’s support towards agriculture, the director said they have been supporting farmers that have their products stuck in hard-to-reach areas to get them in headquarters towns. But that they do not have the capital to help manage the roads, hence it remains a challenge.
He said they have and continue to help the rural people out of poverty through access to finance.
The Director explained that one of the reasons Freetown is overcrowded is that decent jobs are not created in the rural areas. Therefore, he said both the youthful and aged populations leave the rural areas in search of better jobs in the capital. “We are going to work with ILO to create decent jobs for youth, women and persons with disability in these rural areas at least to get them to stay in those areas so that we can decongest Freetown,” Bangura said.
Highlighting the strides made in the rural communities, he said they have been providing support to farmers under the Inventory Credit Scheme for palm oil, explaining that there are times when the prices of palm oil are low and their customers cannot get the expected profit.
He explained that through the scheme, they give loans to their customers who buy and stock the palm oil and sell when the prices are good.
“Immediately we get the funds from ILO, we will increase the amount they have been getting so we can get more farmers into the business,” he said.
Speaking on feeder roads, the Director of ILO, Vanessa Phala stated that their organization has made a commitment to maintain two hundred kilometres of feeder roads, adding that she has been told that by the end of the year, they would have maintained one hundred and eighteen kilometres, saying that they’ve already completed thirty-four kilometres.
The Director committed to continuing to join forces with the Sierra Leone Roads Authority (SLRA) to continue maintaining some roads.
She explained that the concept of the project revolves around feeder roads and value chains, explaining that this is to make sure that roads are maintained in order for farmers or producers to have easy access to transport their goods to the market.
Stressing the significance of road networks to the value chain, The Chief Executive Officer of the Small and Medium Enterprises Development Agency (SMEDA) Sharka Samuel Sannoh said
“When the roads are fine, transporters find it easy to get to the point of production and transport the end product to where they are needed, but if we do not have those road networks, it will be difficult”.
He said along the value chain development there are a series of activities that occur from the production site to the point of consumption, noting that they need to work in collaboration with other institutions such as SLRA.
Apex Bank is amongst the four institutions that signed an individual implementation agreement with the ILO to create decent jobs for Sierra Leoneans. The implementation will be done under a four-year project dubbed ‘Opportunity Salone’, the project is being funded by the European Union (EU).
Copyright © 2023 Politico (19/05/23)
