The Ministry of Finance (MoF), as part of its mandate to mobilise finance for government priority programmes like the Feed Salone, has been actively engaging development partners to seek interventions to achieve its development objectives.
One such trusted partner over the years has been the Islamic Development Bank (IsDB), whose mission just completed a feasibility study across the country to implement a 40$ million Livestock Project.
In a briefing meeting, Deputy Finance Minister 1, Mrs Kadiatu Allie, thanked the IsDB for supporting the Government and people of Sierra Leone by stating the Livestock Project is important in achieving the objectives of the Feed Salone Programme.
She assured them of the ministry’s support in providing a technical team to support the project’s short and long-term development.
The Minister of Agriculture, Dr Henry Musa Kpaka, said the Ministry of Agriculture has a very ambitious livestock project under the Feed Salone Programme (BIG FIVE).
He furthered that the mission visi
t is more than a feasibility study moving towards the next stage of appraisal of a firm commitment of 40$ million while anticipating that OPEC will come in to reach the target of 100$ million.
He expressed delight, saying there had been no funds for livestock under the Feed Salone Programme and that this will be a flagship project for livestock, which aims at reducing the importation of chicken and eggs in the country.
Dr Kpaka also stated that they have done a lot of preparation for this project by going to the field, hiring a consultant to support the poultry sector, doing a feasibility study, and making a rough sketch of the project components and cost breakdown in various locations.
He noted that part of it is the grant element, and the other part is highly concessionary financing, designed to have multiple funding sources or Prior financing to achieve the project objectives during the implementation stage.
The IsDB Operation Team Leader, Sabiu Auwal, explained that the mission is to identify activiti
es they can finance and confirm what the government wants for livestock development in the country.
He assured the ministers that they would take all the information to the project preparation board, and once they got the clearance from the board, they would proceed with an appraisal mission in October.
The operation leader highlighted the proposed components, which include the empowerment of Women and Youth in Livestock, Animal Health Training, Infrastructure, Animal Vaccinations, Storage Market Facilities, Slaughter Houses, setting up Medium Size Enterprises and Capacity Building,
The Financial Secretary, Matthew Dingie, expressed delight for the business side of the arrangement, which speaks about the setting up of medium-sized enterprises to help address the repayment of the loans through the deposits coming from the sales of these businesses.
He continued that if the people know it’s a business, they will not use it for celebrations without giving it back to the appropriate authorities.
Source: Sie
rra Leone News Agency