By Foday Moriba Conteh
Lisa Chesney MBE, British High Commissioner to Sierra Leone, has on the 28th February 2022 expressed interest in the Tourism Ministry’s youth development and women empowerment programmes. She made that disclosure during a meeting with the Minister of Tourism and Cultural Affairs, Dr. Memunatu Pratt at the Ministry’s Headquarters, on Kingharman Road in Freetown.
The British High Commissioner, who has been to many parts of the country thus far stated that Sierra Leone is a beautiful country with a lot of potentials especially in its tourism dimension. She acknowledged and applauded the strides and initiatives the Ministry has embarked on for which she expressed interest in working with the sector in creating jobs for youths and women engaged in beach cleaning and waste management which will be coordinated by the wider British Chamber of Commerce.
On her part, Minister Pratt welcomed the High Commissioner to the Home of Hospitality saying that she was delighted to have her at the Ministry. She explained that since her appointment in 2018, the Ministry has been engaged in a lot of activities especially in rebranding the image of Sierra Leone to the international community. She noted that she had been to the World Travel Market in London three times, but because of COVID the focus had been on domestic tourism which she said has yield dividends. Minister Pratt explained the efforts the sector is placing on wildlife tourism and also expressed interest in working with international organizations in wildlife tourism.
Minister Pratt continued that the Ministry enjoys cross-ministry coordination and partnerships that have been forged with line MDAs. In the area of youth development and women empowerment, Dr. Pratt said her desire is for those engaged in beach cleaning and waste management to be trained and work in bigger cleaning businesses. She called for increased private sector investment as it is the greatest challenge the sector is facing.
