Dennis K. Vandi, Minister of Finance, has signed the release of $75 million in World Bank Budget Support under the First Sustainable and Growth Facility funding program on Friday, December 17, 2021.
The event, which was attended by other government officials and dignitaries, was held in the conference room of the Ministry of Finance.
Dennis K. Vandi, Minister of Finance, expressed his delight at the bank’s board acceptance of this year’s budget support.
He also praised the World Bank Country staff, particularly the World Bank Country Manager, for ensuring the effective completion of the reform initiatives.
The Minister went on to say that Sierra Leone will receive $100 million from the World Bank under the Productivity and Transparency Support Credit in 2020. He stated that this transfer supported changes in numerous areas of the economy, including the establishment of a Seed Certification Agency, the National Fertilizer Regulatory Agency, and improvements in the Ministry of Lands, Housing, and Country Planning.
He went on to say that the Sierra Leonean government and the World Bank had agreed to a $75 million budget assistance package under the First Inclusive and Sustainable Growth Facility for this year.
“This is designed to assist changes in many areas of the economy that resulted in the formulation of the following Bills, which have been introduced in Parliament for enactment.” The Gender and Equality Bill, the Land Commission Bill, the Customary Land Rights Bill, the Mines and Minerals Bill, the Electronic Payment System Bill, and the National Switch Bill.”
Minister Vandi concluded by underlining the government’s commitment to ongoing reforms aimed at strengthening governance, budgetary sustainability, and openness in the use of public resources.
The Country Manager, Abdu Muwonge, expressed his delight that the board approved the assistance, concentrating on funding programs in national development under the pillar of human capital development and growth on Thursday, December 16th.
He stated that the changes are in vital areas that would boost growth in land, mining, and sectors that will increase inclusivity in education, women, and payment systems, transparency and governance in procurement, and efficiency in state-owned firms.
Muwonge continued that this year’s total commitment from the World Bank is $263 million, of which this $75 million is the highest, stating that this is a huge accomplishment of the bank’s to the government of Sierra Leone.
He furthered that besides the $75m, the board of the bank also approved $60m towards improving health outcomes in the provinces, additional COVID-19 financing of $18.1M.
“We are on track as far as this financial year is concerned, Hon. Minister, my team is working on three other projects, social safety net $40 million, land administration, project $40 million, and the digital transformation projects $40 million,” he added.
He called on the government through the Ministry of Finance to monitor the implementation of the reforms and ensure that the outcomes are archived.
Financial Secretary Sahr Lahai Jusu commits to ensuring that the grant is utilised to improve the life of the people of Sierra Leone. He also assured other government agencies that the ministry of finance will fund programmes and projects towards achieving the outcomes of the program.
