Speaking at the opening of the week-long 48th annual conference of West Africa College of Surgeons (WACS) at the Miatta Conference Centre, Mr. Koroma said the UNDP human development index ranked the country as one of those with the highest incidence of infant and maternal mortality in the world. According to available statistics, Sierra Leone can only boast of about 60 medical doctors.

President Koroma said the challenge was for his government to transform the entire health sector in the country to ensure better service delivery, adding: “My government is determined to address the poor health condition in the country because, when conditions improved, it will encourage medics to stay home and serve their people.” To demonstrate his commitment toward the improvement of the situation, the President said his government would allocate a piece of land to the college to enable it build an institution that would cater for the training of surgeons locally as well as create facilities for other sub-regional specialists.

Hundreds of medical doctors from the sub-region are attending the conference. Chairman of the conference’s Local Organizing Committee, Dr. Len Gordon Harris, described it as an annual rotational event.
In his address, Sierra Leone’s Health Minister, Dr. Socco Kabia, described Sierra Leone’s health problem as “serious health service delivery constraints” and blamed the 10-year civil war for the state of the country’s health sector.

Earlier, President of the West Africa College of Surgeons, Prof. E. Alihonou, said Sierra Leoneans had been giving valuable contributions to the college since its inception. He said the college was charged with the responsibility of organising seminars, conducting examinations, researches and training programmes for its members.

Panafrican News Agency (PANA) - February 15, 2008.

The bottom line is usually that this money puts food on the table and ensures continued survival. This may include a slight increase in the amount earned overall and lead to a surplus. This surplus will not be on a scale even recognisable in the developed world but may mean the opportunity to improve someone’s life and those of their family.

The opportunities that come to an individual and their family from the security of full time employment can be life changing. These changes can be many and really need to be witnessed to be fully appreciated. It is only the prospect of regular money that can help a family plan effectively. Many families are affected by the loss of loved ones, for all the reasons known and this loss of a wage earner can have a dramatic effect.

It is impossible to create meaningful long term employment just for the sake of it, because at some point the workers will need to be paid. Where the money will come from to pay workers for the job’s created, will probably come from international finances provided to kick start work programmes. The only problem with this type of assistance, is its very short term nature and lack of sustainability, which is the real answer to achieving long term job creation programmes.

Self employment is often cited as the true opportunity for people to create jobs for themselves but as usual, it comes down to start up funding being readily available and affordable to service on an on-going basis. This is where the use of microfinance schemes is having such a marked impact on the markets of several emerging markets, notably the rural poor of India and Bangladesh. In India the use of small microfinance schemes has had a significant impact on breaking the cycle of poverty, endured daily by the self employed workers especially women, who were trapped and exploited by money lenders.

With the money lender removed from the equation, the worker is able to buy the materials they require daily, make a small profit, service the microfinance loan and keep a small amount for further materials, so that they begin to make progress.The women form small groups and act as guarantors for each others loan. They use their only asset as security, that in this case is nearly always their reputation. The default rates for this level of front-line lending is incredibly low, to the point of being negligible and would put the banking system of the so called developed world to shame.

In fact, the Grameen Bank in Bangladesh was for many years ignored and mocked by the traditional banking system for its modus operandi. However, with their own default rates running at 50-60% from people who supposedly are good credit risks due to the availability of assets, the traditional banking system is starting to emulate this way of doing business because it now has a proven track record as well as a Nobel Prize for the bank and its founder.

Microfinance has a critical role to play in job creation and I feel the two go hand in hand, with the needs of the individual being assessed on their skills and not on whether they have assets.

These are not suitable for covering medium to large distances in the temperatures likely to be experienced and with the lack of a railway network system leaves buses as the only real alternative.

This is affected because of the suitability of the road that these buses travel over and many times their use is limited because of the lack of road infrastructure.

Massive investment is required in infrastructure project in West Africa because they have to be built before people will actually use the service if its affordable, goes to where they need to get to and is sustainable.

The buses could be used to carry cargo and provide a point to point delivery service for products allowing a postal service to develop. This will create the backbone for a new courier postal service that needs to be or could be started in the region to help stimulate and drive economic growth.

From a vibrant bus infrastructure will come the impetus to develop the long distance service which due to the vast distances involved in the region will be best serviced by a rail network.

This network needs to be constructed in the next five to ten years to give the region a chance to stimulate economic development and drive towards the Millennium Development Goals and beyond.

The rail network should combine both passenger and cargo services and extend the opportunities of regional trade routes to begin to have a major impact on the economy

The use of images to market certain products can be very powerful in influencing consumers. The Marlboro Man, the bottle of Coca Cola and the Nike Swoosh must be some of the most easily recognised symbols in the world and all have received worldwide exposure through advertising hoardings.

In West Africa the opportunity for outdoor advertisers is made even more attractive as television as an advertising medium is under-developed and so is magazine advertising, it is in fact non-existant. Therefore the only real opportunity for large full colour marketing of products and services to the public is through the use of signage. This can be located everywhere e.g.
roadside, a transport terminus, the top of buildings and on the side of vehicles.

The space for doing this type of advertising exists and there is the population to view it. The next challenge is to ensure the quality of the signage can be monitored through the printing and materials used to make them. For the West African environment the materials used will need to be durable and long lasting, especially anything that is vehicle mounted.

. Equipment to be used - the printing equipment required to produce the work may not exist and therefore a whole new industry could develop around this requirement.

. Vehicle Signage - the types of vehicles that would suit the purposes of outdoor vehicle advertising are buses and taxis. The quality of the vehicles bodywork and paint work will affect whether the signage will be able to be offered correctly.

There is a whole industry waiting to be developed across the region of West Africa. All the towns and cities could be developed by a visionary company looking to exploit the opportunity of marketing other peoples products and services to the general public.

The three containers making up a GeoPod facility can be utilised for the provision of advertising messages. This can be either the sides of the containers or through the erection of advertising hoardings on the roof or by the side of each container.

The hoarding could also serve an additonal function as the perimeter security fencing for each GeoPod facility.

This would provide a revenue generating opportunity for the GeoPod cooperative as it acts a focal point for community development and can reach the public directly.

All the many forms of literature generated and distributed by each GeoPod could also carry sponsored and paid for advertising messages, again providing the cooperative with an ongoing revenue stream.