Mayor Aki-Sawyerr has advocated for more investment in and recognition of smaller firms in Africa during her concluding remarks at the Africa Tech Festival.
“I really want to encourage more local governments and governments to understand the value that start-ups provide,” she says.
There is a growing commitment to the sustainability industry, as seen by substantial investments in green energy start-ups in Africa in 2020. However, ensuring the future of environmentally responsible businesses requires continual investment across the continent.
During the panel discussion, Mayor Yvonne Aki-Sawyerr discussed how, through the Transform Freetown 4-year development plan, Freetown has supported start-ups that are using an environmentally responsible strategy to drive socioeconomic progress.
Transform Freetown, which Mayor Aki-Sawyerr announced in 2019, intends to improve the quality of life for Freetonians by working with focus group members to identify residents’ primary requirements before engaging with technical professionals to translate the results into quantifiable targets. So far, Mayor Aki-Sawyerr states that “we’ve promoted a complete ecosystem of business directly from the self-employed to [larger] enterprises,” which has increased economic growth.
The tricycle refuse collection initiative, which has provided over 1,000 residents in local communities with household garbage collecting jobs since 2019, is an important example of Mayor Aki-Sawyerr and Transform Freetown’s work. The concept has quickly evolved since its inception, uniting numerous youth and activist organisations under a single economic plan, proving that sustainable activities can be commercially profitable. According to Mayor Aki-Sawyerr, the tricycle effort is a response to “the demands of the community – and we want these [local business ideas] to materialise.”
Mayor Aki-Sawyerr further emphasised that the economy cannot rely entirely on huge corporations; rather, investing in the ecosystem of small business owners “create[s] the jobs we require.” With “60 percent of employment in the informal sector,” such as local food and commodities marketplaces, Sierra Leone is seeing a boom in informal workers embracing new digital modes of engagement to expand their businesses. Mayor Aki-Sawyerr lauded the efforts of local women who set up online sales from their market stalls throughout the pandemic. Initiatives like these, she claims, have created a critical link between local firms and the wider economy.
Mark Victor, Governance, Risk, and Compliance Partner at Deloitte, and Grace Wachori, Partnerships & Engagement Lead at B Lab East Africa, joined Mayor Aki-Sawyerr on the panel.
