By Mohamed Fadlu Bah – 6th August 2019
In contemporary Sierra Leone, development in health, import and export, education and technology industrialization deforestation are all challenges.
Sierra Leone is amongst the countries with the fastest growing incidences of malaria, HIV/AIDS, hepatitis coupled with other diseases like typhoid, lassa fever and many other diseases that have ravaged different communities in the country.
Reeling from the scars of war, political instability, suffered from problems of refugees; internal and externally displaced people and had also witnessed corruption, tribalism, sectionalism and political oppression, the country depends heavily on the importation of food and her population lives below the minimum recommended diet by the World Health Organization. Thousands of its citizens cannot afford the normal 3 course meal a day. The absence of farming at a large scale to provide food for the nation has added to its woes. If the country is to grow and the economy boosted, robust action should be taken to improve on agriculture to increase yield and provide enough food that can be exported to fetch much needed foreign exchange. There is also the need to attract investors who could invest in mining and process the raw materials in the country rather than take them out.
With the low level of industrialization, Sierra Leone remains an importer of primary commodities and an exporter of its natural resources which are then processed and sold back to the country at exorbitant prices.
It is only now that the country is giving priority to education by bringing the free quality education. Our education is backward in that we now have students coming from the university without being able to write and speak simple English Language. Our school system is nothing to write home about as most students and teachers/lecturers are deeply engaged in corruption.
And with a low level of industrialization, Africa remains an importer of primary commodities.
