By Kemo Cham
Former Sierra Leone President Ernest Bai Koroma has again been invited to attend the 2020 Horasis Global Meeting, his office announced last week.
President Koroma received the invitation in person from the chairman of the annual global business confab, Dr. Frank-Jurgen Richter, who visited Sierra Leone as part of an Africa tour, according to a statement issued by the Office of the former President. It said Dr Richter was received by President Koroma at his private residence in the northern town of Makeni.
Horasis is an independent, international think tank, headquartered in Zurich, Switzerland. Founded in 2005 by Richter, who is a former director of the World Economic Forum, Horasis is dedicated to the innovation and development of sustainable emerging markets. It’s annual global meeting, held in Cascais, Portugal, brings together heads of state, entrepreneurs, economists, peace experts and religious leaders to discussion a wide range of issues geared towards making the world a better place.
President Koroma was one of dozens of world leaders who graced the 2019 edition of the event. He was a guest speaker.
It was at that event that the former Sierra Leonean leader announced his controversial idea of an African Peace Engineering Corps. He also held several high level meetings on the fringes of the event on peace, good governance and economic development in Africa.
Richter was quoted after meeting with President Koroma in Makeni saying that his [Koroma] presence at the 2019 event was so valuable that he wanted him to attend the 2020 edition.
"I found President Koroma's presence during the 2019 meeting and his contribution extremely valuable to the overall objectives of Horasis. Therefore, I am here to personally invite him to next year's meeting and to request for his recommendation of other African political and private sector leaders", said Richter, as reported by the African Press Organization.
Richter, according to the report, added that he agreed with the objectives of Koroma’s proposed African Peace Engineering Corps and that his organization was fully behind the ex-president’s vision. He also indicated plans to include a special Round - Table meeting on the idea at the 2020 event.
Dr. Richter was scheduled to depart Freetown for Mauritania on Thursday.
Koroma, a former a insurance broker, led Sierra Leone from 2007 to 2018. He stepped down after the 2018 elections after serving his two five year constitutional terms.
Since then he has retired at his home district of Makeni, from where he has been running his party – the main opposition All People’s Congress.
Very recently Koroma has stepped up his international engagement which has taken him to Nigeria and, most recently, Namibia, where he headed the Africa Union Elections Observation Mission in that country’s election held on November 27.
Koroma was quoted thanking Richter for reaching out, noting that the Horasis meeting was a good platform for the wider Africa to advance their socioeconomic development.
"I am very pleased to have received the chairman of Horasis in Sierra Leone; we had very fruitful discussions on our partnership going forward,” Koroma said.
He added: “Indeed I believe Horasis offers a very unique and strategic platform which African leaders, both in the public and private sectors, should utilize in advancing their socio-economic development goals."
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