Sierra Leone to lose 920 million USD in 2015 due to Ebola disease

FREETOWN, Feb. 17 (Xinhua) -- The President of Sierra Leone said Monday that the country stands to lose about 920 million dollars in 2015 as a result of the impact of Ebola.

President Ernest Bai Koroma was addressing a private sector development round table on post Ebola in Freetown during which he enumerated how Ebola has paralyzed the economy.

The round table was organized by the Ministry of Transport together with Sierra Leone Industrial Export Promotion Authority (SLIEPA).

He pointed out that the impact has affected all sectors of the economy including agriculture, mining, tourism as well as the manufacturing industry.

He went further to state that the private sector has also not being spared by the Ebola crisis.

He noted that the manufacturing sector contracted by 2.0% from a projected growth of 10%, the transport industry fell to 0.1% in 2014, while the tourism recorded a considerable decline to about 30% from May to September last year.

Financial activities were disrupted with normal banking hours reduced with community banks and Financial Service Associations (FSA) closed down.

The Head of State lamented that the mining sector which has been the "prime mover of growth" also had its challenges. Most of the mining companies, such as African Minerals that supported the economy had to temporarily close down.

"Its effect has negatively wrecked the economy thereby bringing the country almost at standstill," said the President.

In this regard, the President urged the participants including the donors and the international community that "it is imperative that we defeat Ebola to stop the paralysis of the economy by Ebola".

He stressed that we must not allow Ebola to continue to paralyze the country's action for economic growth, investment, job creation as well as sustainable returns for the private sector.

President Koroma seized the opportunity to comment on the Auditor General's report on the management of the Ebola funds noting that he has received it and forward it to Parliament for deliberation and ultimate recommendations as stipulated in the constitution.

He recalled his social mobilization tours countrywide during which he cautioned for judicious use of the funds.

He pointed out that he realized that "most had not lived to up to expectation" but warned that action will be taken against those the report found wanted.

He however called on the international community to also investigate those international NGOs that also collected monies meant for Ebola.

To conclude, President Koroma called on the private sector that they had a key role to play in restoring the country's economy. Enditem