By: Andrew Chokpeleh
Freetown, 8th December 2025- The Ministry of Planning and Economic Development has organized a three-day policy conference to explore how Sierra Leone can achieve sustainable financial development that will help move the country forward.
The workshop brought together policymakers, the private sector, the media, and civil society organizations to discuss ways the country can maximize the use of its resources and strengthen its taxation systems to generate income for national development projects.
The Chief Minister, David Monina Sengeh, speaking on behalf of the President, stated that for a long time the international community and even Sierra Leoneans themselves have viewed the country as a low-income nation incapable of financing its development projects without support from the private sector and other development partners. He said this is why the President launched the Government’s Mid-Term National Development Plan, which is intended to help Sierra Leone become a middle-income country by 2039.
The Chief Minister encouraged participants to start conversations that will help even people at the grassroots level understand how their businesses and daily activities contribute to the growth of the national economy. He also urged citizens to pay their taxes, emphasizing that taxation is one of the main ways the country can generate revenue to fund national development projects.
The Minister of Finance, Sheku Ahmed Fantamadi Bangura, explained that Sierra Leone has suffered significant losses in the mining sector. This, he said, has prompted the relevant authorities to take strong measures aimed at promoting tax compliance and reducing tax leakages in the mining and other sectors. He insisted that Sierra Leone is not a poor country because it possesses abundant natural resources that can adequately support national development.
However, the country appears poor and vulnerable because foreigners have long been allowed to extract these resources and take them abroad with little or no benefit to Sierra Leone. He stressed the need for the country to begin looking inward and find ways to achieve financial stability that will drive national progress.
The United Nations Resident Coordinator, Seraphine Wakana, stated that Sierra Leone must start thinking about how to generate its own funds to champion its development projects. She noted that many countries around the world and even other African nations have already begun achieving financial independence and stability, and Sierra Leone should not remain behind.
She emphasized that financing development is a means of eliminating poverty in any country, and that it should not be viewed as charity but as a way to promote justice, and protect and uphold human rights factors that will contribute to the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Wakana added that Sierra Leone is no longer waiting for change; rather, the country is taking the lead in driving this change. She encouraged the implementation of tax systems that reduce leakages and promote smooth financial flow.
