[Sierra Leone] Spanish Organisation Helps to Reduce Poverty in Sierra Leone

from All Africa

The Independent (Freetown)

Alpha R. Jalloh

A team of officials from ACCION International, a Spanish organisation, was in Freetown to meet with officials of the Union Trust Bank, (UTB) the first indigenous bank in Sierra Leone.

ACCION International is facilitating the establishment of a micro- finance department at the UTB in Sierra Leone.

The poverty-stricken coastal West African country is grappling with the harsh realities of post-war era.

The Spanish team together with officials of UTB also visited the National Commission for Social Action(NaCSA) the government development agency which has also been providing micro-credit facilities to poor communities.

Briefing the NaCSA Commissioner and technical staff, the senior Vice President International 0perations of ACCION International Rosaline Copisarow said the organisation was promoting partnerships with commercial banks especially in micro-finance. She said her organisation would also establish public information dissemination and networking programs to support the intervention. She expressed interest in NaCSA's success story.

The commissioner of NaCSA Mr. Kanja Sesay explained that the Government of Sierra Leone initiated the micro-credit finance program as part of its poverty reduction strategy. He revealed that the African Development Bank funded the program.

ACCION has developed 50 training modules for individuals to develop business skills and start some form of small scale business. These modules will be translated from Spanish to English. The ACCION/UTB team invited NaCSA to participate in the design and adaptation of the training modules, especially for people who are illiterate