Former British Prime Minister Tony Blair has accepted the role of an International advocate for Sierra Leone “to go out and market” the country.
Welcoming Mr Blair at State House Monday President Koroma said “Mr Tony Blair is a special friend to Sierra Leone it was when he was Prime Minister that we experienced a turn around in terms of the civil strife that we were experiencing in this country. His decision heralded the turn around and from that moment he took the decision to come in and help this country. The problem subsided and today we have peace. We have not only had peace we have been through elections that have made Sierra Leone a beacon for democracy in Africa. Mr Blair has a special interest for this country and during his last visit when he was in Lungi he promised that he would come again and visit Sierra Leone.”
President Koroma went on “He is here to share his experience with us, he is here to tell us that he is so committed to our country that he is prepared to go out and market Sierra Leone to the international world and he is here at the most appropriate time wherein we believe we will need his experience to ensure that we become a very effective government and also with an effective government we need the support of the international community to come and invest and he has offered to serve in both roles and I believe we cannot ask for more.”
In his brief remarks Mr Blair said “It’s a very special honour for me to come and be here with you today in Freetown as you know Sierra Leone occupies a very special place in my heart for all sorts of personal as well as political reasons.”
He noted “That when the democratic elections happened and there was a peaceful transfer of government this sent a very important message to the whole of the international community about the nature of Sierra Leone and its people. When you look back over the past decades this country has been through so many troubled times the spirit of the people has been so severely tested it does require a remarkable country and a remarkable people to come through those testing times and to emerge in the way that Sierra Leone has with a proper functioning democracy and now with a new and democratically elected president at its head. I know that the challenges of the country are profound and for ordinary people in Sierra Leone they are impatient and desirous of the changes that they deserve to have come about in their country today.”
Mr Blair went on to endorse President Koroma’s rule saying “I also know that this President is a man who is deeply committed to making those changes, who is a decent leader, with the right instincts and enormous leadership capabilities and for me it would be both a privilege and a pleasure to work with him in any way I can and with his colleagues and indeed with the country as a whole to try and make sure that Sierra Leone has the future that it deserves.”
The Former British Prime Minister also noted that “the thing that everyone recognizes when they come to Sierra Leone is quite apart from how friendly and good the people are it is also what enormous potential the country has and this potential has to be nurtured and developed and allowed to fulfill itself so that the 21st century that began in such difficult circumstances becomes a century of opportunity and hope and progress for the people here so I would be very happy in any way I can to help and in particular to go out to the international community and to say to the international community not just the donor community but the private sector international community as well Sierra Leone is a good place to come to its people are good people to work with there is an attitude and a spirit and a determination here that is right for our times and right for this country in this time so anything I can do to work alongside and to help you I will do Mr President.”
Questioned further whether there were any particular areas he wanted Mr Blair to concentrate on, President Koroma said “Mr Blair is here principally to assist us in having a more effective governance in the country – that is one area – we are looking but in the aspect of his representation outside we have indicated to him our areas of priority which are energy, infrastructure and agriculture and these are areas we believe we have to work on quickly because they will lay the basis of the development of this country and I believe he is quite prepared to go out there and canvass support from both the private sector and the international donor community to intervene in these areas but we clearly have these areas mapped out.”
For his part Mr Blair said “The priorities that the President has set out are clearly the right priorities for the country. In a way when you look at what needs to be done its fairly obvious what are the key sectors to focus on. The question is how it can be done and I’m prepared to help in any way I can in … a role in international advocacy with the private sector or international donor community to try help get things sorted out whether there are problems to attracting investments.”
Mr Blair said his main aim was “to see some major international investors come to Sierra Leone and invest and realize that this is a good country to invest in. Obviously that depends on the right climate for investment being created but also it helps when there are people from outside the country who say come here and see the possibility so I think in that way I may be of some help.”