By Chernor Alimamy Kamara
During the Bilateral Budget discussions at the Ministry of Finance for the Financial Year (FY) 2025, the Director-General of the Local Content Agency, Fodeba Daboh stated that supermarket monitoring reveals that the uptake of local products has increased.
He also stated that anecdotal evidence shows that suppliers are currently having a challenge keeping up with demand, as reported by supermarket management and confirmed by suppliers.
Outlining the Agency’s deliverables for FY 2024 on the 26th of August 2024, Director-General Daboh noted that they have completed the local content audit of these companies: Sunbird Bio Energy Limited, FG Gold Limited, and Miro- Forestry.
“Freetown International Airport Lounge now has local dishes on its menu as a result of the Local Content Agency’s intervention,” he said.
He said that as a direct result of the agency’s intervention, Roy Global SL Limited and Mano Mining have become the first local companies to be awarded contracts for drilling and blasting operations at Leone Rock and Sierra Rutile respectively. Added to parent companies in the mining sector, he said the agency now has a comprehensive database of their subcontractors.
He went on to say that they held an eight-round table business linkage, attracting 150 small businesses and 8 large companies. He added that they linked 15 medium-sized local suppliers of local rice with the World Food Programme to support the Homegrown School Feeding Programme, saying the WFP preliminary report shows that they are keeping up with demand and, hence, making good returns.
Explaining the agency's challenges for FY 2024, he said they have limited presence in the Provinces as they are unable to do supermarket monitoring there.
For FY 2023, Daboh said that the agency has improved the local content regulatory environment with a reviewed local content Act and Regulation. He also said that they have enhanced collaboration and partnerships with both public and private sector players to promote critical skills development that meet industrial needs.
Highlighting the Agency’s key deliverables for FY 2025, he stated that they plan to manage a well-informed public sector about Sierra Leone’s Local Content Laws and how the Local Content Agency is implementing them. They also intend to increase the number of local suppliers participating in and securing contractors following the procurement tendering processes in both the private and public sectors.
The local content agency aims to create a vibrant domestic private sector controlled by Sierra Leonean companies and a skilled local workforce.
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