By Amin Kef Sesay
There are many rich Sierra Leoneans who singly or as partners and companies can have great leverage on economic growth and development by investing in the productive sectors of the economy, like Senegalese, Guineans and Ivoirians have done; yet they prefer to spend their monies on luxurious lifestyles.
On the other hand, the Lebanese have slowly over many decades through hard work and entrepreneurship come to contribute immensely to the growth and development of our economy through small, medium and large scale investments in all sectors of the economy; thereby creating tens of thousands of direct and indirect jobs, incomes and tax revenue to the Government.
Many of today’s generation of Lebanese whose grandparents and parents migrated into Sierra Leone in the 1900 were born here and see themselves as citizens of this country.
At first, they had little access to capital and little control of import or export; they were at the mercy of the large colonial merchant firms, the same as indigenous traders. They brought imported manufactured goods such as textiles, jewellery and mirrors to rural areas where European and Creole traders would not go, and traded them for local agricultural produce, primary palm kernels and kola nuts. As they expanded their trading interests into the interior, they gained commercial power.
In the 1920s, they not only began to enjoy better access to credit, but also began to play a role themselves in extending credit to agricultural producers in the interior, sometimes at exorbitant rates which sparked the intervention of the colonial Government.
Beginning in the 1930s, the Lebanese began to out-compete indigenous traders, by concentrating their returns from commerce back into the same sector to expand their purchases of goods, rather than diversifying into other sectors. They also began to establish their own links to exporters in other countries. By the 1950s, diamonds had become the most important business sector for Lebanese traders.
The key to the success of the Lebanese is that they know how to generate business, and they’re fearless where trading is concerned.
A network of mutual support among Lebanese and the possibility of obtaining foreign exchange through international contacts have also provided advantages over most other competitors.
Today, the Lebanese community continues to play an important role in the country’s economic growth and development through their investments in mining, the fishing industry, agriculture, transportation, education, health, housing, hotels, restaurants, casinos, factories, travel agencies and import and export.
