Sewa News Stream

Africa’s women and girls offer untapped potential to drive African development. Reductions in the gender gap in education, health, and economic inclusion will result in an increase in the continent’s economic competitiveness. This week, the United States Department of State announced that its African Women’s Entrepreneurship Program will open the third new Women’s Entrepreneurship Centers of Resources, Education, Access, and Training for Economic Empowerment (WECREATE), in Mali this year, in addition to the centers already open in Zambia and Kenya. The centers are expected to create 7,194 new jobs and 630 certified female mentors by October 2016. In Africa, women are the backbone of communities and the continent’s greatest potential to unlocking economic growth.  Sheriff Mahmud Ismail reports from Sierra Leone, where nearly half the population is under the age of 18.  In a recent UN Population Fund (UNFPA) report focused on motherhood in childhood and adolescent pre...

Bunny Mack (center) at a performance marking the 50th anniversary of Sierra Leone's independence from Britain in April 2011. The award-winning star played a big part in publicizing the year long celebration and Sierra Leone's golden jubilee. Bunny Mack, the Sierra Leonean music legend who memorably sang ' Let Me Love You'  died Saturday, July 11, in London. Mack is survived by his wife Violet, daughters Cecilia and Tracey, and his son - Capital Radio presenter Kris MacCormack. UPDATE ****The late Bunny Mack will be buried in London on Wednesday, August 5. Below is an obituary from his son Kevin G. (Kris) MacCormack. Sierra Leonean born singer and entertainer Bunny Mack passed away in the early hours of Saturday 11th July 2015 in London, aged 69. Forever etched in the memories of many a Sierra Leonean, the late (and pioneering) recording artist was known for songs such as "Silver Spoon" "I Really Love You" "Angel In Disguise" an...

Archive, undated photo of President Koroma President Koroma made a passionate call Friday at the United Nation's International Ebola Recovery Conference in New York, which will seek to raise $3.2 billion over the next two years so that Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone can fully rebound from the crisis. According to Sylvia Blyden, a Sierra Leonean reporter covering the event on social media, Justine Greening, United Kingdom Secretary of State for International Development,  pledged $400 Million to Ebola Recovery efforts. On the eve of the high-level segment of the Conference, taking place at UN Headquarters, Dr. David Nabarro, the Secretary-General's Special Envoy on Ebola, told reporters about “remarkable progress [that] has been made through the outstanding efforts of the people and governments of the affected countries.” “Most of the affected region is now free of Ebola,” Dr. Nabarro said of the epidemic that began last year and has affected some 27,600 people, incl...

President Koroma commissioned 100 diesel-engine buses in Freetown, Tuesday. Fifty of them will serve the densely populated city, where more than a million people rely on public transport to get to work and to school. For every destination in-city, Leones 1,000 will be the fare. Sheriff Mahmud Ismail reports from Freetown . ''This is good news,'' said Mrs. Baindu Brima, a mother of three. “For those of us who do not have enough to pay the extra, our kids suffer a lot -- waiting and running around for the few vehicles that would take them. These buses are going to be a huge relief for both parents and kids,'' she declared. Seventeen of the 20-, 39-, and 46-seaters have been earmarked as school buses. But critics say the problem of public transport is not just the shortage of vehicles. ''There are other attendant factors which the buses will not address. Those are structural problems and the transportation network,” said a staunch opponent of ...

Nunu Ntshingila-Njeke, Head of Africa, Facebook Facebook’s newest business office will be headed by Nunu Ntshingila, the company’s new Head of Africa. Based in Melrose Arch, Johannesburg, Facebook’s first office in Africa has been set up to further the company’s commitment to help businesses connect with people and grow locally and regionally. According to the social network, Facebook’s active user population in Africa has grown 20 percent to 120 million in June 2015 from 100 million in September 2014. More than 80 percent of these people access Facebook from their mobile phones. “Mobile is not a trend; it’s the fastest development in communications we’ve ever seen. This couldn’t be more true in Africa – where so many people are mobile-only. This new office is a significant milestone for Facebook and our teams want to partner with businesses across the continent,” says Nicola Mendelsohn, vice-president of Facebook across Europe, Central and Eastern Europe, the Middle East, Afr...

Ambassador John Hoover Chevron, the American energy corporation, has renewed interest in doing business in Sierra Leone, according to a State House Communication unit report. This week, John Hoover, the American envoy to Sierra Leone, met with Raymond Kargbo, the director general of Sierra Leone’s Petroleum Directorate, at Hill Station in Freetown, the capital city. The US ambassador recalled that Chevron pulled out because of low commercial viability. “We would work with you to avoid the situation that happened in Uganda as they were doing their petroleum exploration," Ambassador Hoover said. "Expectations ran far ahead of reality." Three years ago, Chevron Corp. announced that its subsidiary Chevron (SL) Ltd. had been awarded participation in two deep-water blocks located offshore Sierra Leone. Spanning over nearly 2,100 square miles, the blocks were located between 75 miles and 110 miles to the southwest of Freetown, the capital city. The two blocks - S...

Sierra Leone’s economic freedom score is 51.7, making its economy the 147th freest in the 2015 Economic Freedom Index — an annual guide published by The Wall Street Journal and The Heritage Foundation, an American conservative think tank based in Washington, D.C. Sierra Leone is ranked 36th out of 46 countries in West, Central, East and Southern Africa. The Index of Economic Freedom ranks the economic freedom of 186 countries around the world. According to this year's score, Sierra Leone has increased by 1.2 points since 2014, with improvements in labor freedom, freedom from corruption, and the control of government spending outweighing deteriorations in property rights and business freedom. The Wall Street Journal and the Heritage Foundation measure economic freedom based on 10  factors, grouped into four broad categories, or pillars, of economic freedom: Rule of Law (property rights, freedom from corruption); Limited Government (fiscal freedom, government spendi...