By Thomas Dixon
FREETOWN, Nov. 15 (SALONE TIMES) – The Government of Sierra Leonen continues to make progress on the Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC) Scorecard.
According to a release from the Ministry of Information and Communication, it is the third consecutive pass of Sierra Leone after its first year of Compact development.
The release stated that in this year’s scorecard, Sierra Leone passed the natural resource protection indictor for the first time, placing it in the 58th percentile of lower income countries.
That this indicator assesses the level of protection of the major biomes in a specific territory and in 2021 and that Sierra Leone did its first comprehensive review of the database, pointing out that this achievement is part of Government’s effort to develop baseline data and set targets towards its commitment to tackle climate change and environmental degradation.
That Sierra Leone continues to make gains in the area of ruling justly, moving from 81% to 83% in the fight against corruption, noting that Sierra Leone launched the accountability platform that is tasked with coordinating measurable priority actions amongst stakeholders such as ACC, Audit Sierra Leone, Ministry of Finance, the Procurement Authority and Parliament to improve accountability within the broader framework of promoting good governance.
That some areas of focus include the implementation of the audit recommendations, noting that in the area of investing in citizens, Sierra Leone passes 5 out of 6 indicators with significant increases in Government expenditures in both health and primary education 61% and 92% respectively.
“Further, at 88.1%, more girls than any other period are completing primary education, a key pillar within the Free Quality Education flagship program,” the release stated.
That while Sierra Leone passes 13 out of 20 indicators, there are areas that require improvements including gender in the economy where there was slight dip in performance but the report indicates government expectation to make improvements on it in the upcoming scorecard given the imminent enactment of the gender empowerment bill.
The report revealed that a preliminary proposal o Compact Development has been submitted to MCC for approval, following the country’s identification of power as the most binding constraint to growth since Sierra Leone was compact eligible in December 2020.
That passing this year’s scorecard means that Compact implementation can continue into 2022 during which feasibility studies and design work will be undertaken to firm up the interventions for the multi-hundred-million-dollar Compact agreement.
That the Government of President Bio remains committed to improving performance on the scorecard within its broader aspirations to promote good governance and democracy, invest in human capital development and create an enabling investment climate, pointing out that Government is working expeditiously to develop a sustainable Compact program to improve access to power for all Sierra Leoneans and contribute towards inclusive green growth.
