Director-General of Abu Dhabi Fund for Development Assures support to Sierra Leone

The Director-General of the Abu Dhabi Fund for Development, ADFD, His Excellency Dr Mohamed Saif Al Suwaidi, has in a meeting with His Excellency President Dr Julius Maada Bio assured of their support to the development of Sierra Leone.

The fund in Abu Dhabi is owned by the government of Abu Dhabi with a focus on
financing infrastructural projects and supporting developing countries to achieve
sustainable socio-economic growth.

The Director-General said that he was honoured and delighted to meet President Bio and his delegation, saying that their institution had had a very good relationship with Sierra Leone where they had operated before. He said they were looking to partner with the government in infrastructural and other development priorities.

“We are ready to implement government priority programmes. With the vision and
determination that we have seen from your government, we think that Sierra Leone is on the right footing and we will be more than happy to help your country,” he
said.

On his part, President Bio thanked ADFB for its previous support to Sierra Leone. He
said his government came into office at a very difficult time and inherited a very
challenged economy, adding that with effective management, they had been able to establish stability in the economy.

He disclosed that his government had placed priority on Human Capital Development as the basis for development with a focus on education, food security and health.

“We are a determined government and we have changed quite a lot in terms of the
economy within this short time. We want genuine partners now who are ready to
work with us in moving our country forward,” he said.

Also in the meeting were Sierra Leone’s Ambassador to the UAE, Rashid Sesay,
Minister of Agriculture, Jonathan Joe Ndanema, Chairman of the Presidential
Initiative on Infrastructure, Dr John Edward Tambi and the Director-General of the Petroleum Directorate, Timothy Kabba.

Centurion Law Group Expands its Team to Support the Growing Flexible Legal Services

CEO NJ Ayuk

The Centurion Law Group on Monday announced the hiring  of Glenda Irvine-Smith  and Unathi Twala as Director of Business Development & International Relations  and Communications Coordinator respectively.

The Centurion Law Group on Monday announced the hiring  of Glenda Irvine-Smith  and Unathi Twala as Director of Business Development & International Relations  and Communications Coordinator respectively.

These additions to our Johannesburg office is a valued addition to CenturionPlus, Africa’s first flexible legal services model.

Glenda Irvine-Smith, with an exceptional working experience in renowned business law firms in Johannesburg, Nairobi, London and Dubai, Glenda joins Centurion from the Africa Legal Network where she was Head of Integration and Development and of the Southern African Region. Glenda’s proven capabilities in strategic planning and outreach will be key in further expanding the Africa-wide legal network offered by CenturionPlus.

As a journalist and pan-African media enthusiast, Unathi Twala understands Africa’s changing landscape and innovative communication will be central in strengthening the Centurion story across Africa.

The expansion of the Centurion team comes at a strategic time for the pan-African legal conglomerate as it rolls out the first Africa-wide flexible legal services mode, CenturionPlus.

“We’re thrilled to have Glenda and Unathi join our team. Flexible legal services are set to transform the future of the legal industry in the same ways they did in Europe and North America, and Centurion is at the forefront of this transformation in Africa,” declared CEO NJ Ayuk. “Glenda and Unathi are two additions to an already remarkable team that we have assembled over the year and make us confident that 2019 will result in an even higher growth for the firm,” he added.

Centurion is a leading pan-African legal and business advisory group with extensive experience in oil and gas law. The group provides outsourced legal representation and covers a full suite of practice areas for its clients, including arbitration and commercial litigation, corporate law, tax and anti-corruption advisory and contract negotiation. Centurion specialises in assisting clients that are starting or growing a business in Africa with offices and Affiliates in Ghana, Cameroon, Congo, Equatorial Guinea, South Africa, South Sudan, Nigeria, Gabon, Angola and Senegal. Centurion is also an active member of the African Energy Chamber.

The content is provided by APO Group. Specimen News does not edit the articles it publishes.

Sierra Leone: President Bio Meets Canadian Minister for International Development

His Excellency President Julius Maada Bio has met with a high-level delegation from Canada, headed by the Canadian Minister for International Development, Honourable Marie-Claude Bibeau, who was visiting the country for the first time.

Honourable Bibeau, who was accompanied to State House by the Canadian Ambassador accredited to Sierra Leone, congratulated President Bio on his election and thanked the people of Sierra Leone for a peaceful transition.

She disclosed that over the years Canada had supported Sierra Leone, and commended President Bio for his resolve to provide quality education to every Sierra Leonean as well as his commitment to improving other sectors of governance.

“It’s a pleasure to be here this week. I already visited some schools as I understand that education is key priority to your administration. I am happy to be here to see for myself and I have seen a very good start, which is promising. We will support you in the best ways we can and see how the two countries can be much more closer friends,” she said.

President Bio, on behalf of the people of Sierra Leone, welcomed the delegation to the country, noting that the two countries had been together for a very long time. He said as a new government, they had placed education at the top of their priorities because of several obvious reasons some people take for granted. He noted that with all the investments, the country continued to be slow, adding that if the country were to surmount the challenges, there must be sound education programme that would benefit every kid.

“We see you are quite anxious to help us in this part of the world where so many activities have been directed. However, without quality education and without a critical mass of people who are well educated, it is going to be extremely difficult to engage and sustain the process of development. Next month, we are starting a free education programme which we believe is necessary for the development of our kids. We know we can only surmount the challenges when we have an educated society. That’s only when we will be able to get a shared understanding of the challenges we face,” he said.

President Bio added that his government would provide a new era of hope for the people, noting that he was ready to engage development partners and friends to see what could be done for a new beginning for Sierra Leone. He assured that his government was going to provide the quality of leaderships necessary to encourage development partners while emphasising his administration’s seriousness about genuine and people centered development. He concluded that that was the reason for the introduction of the free education so that every child would have a share of the benefits of nation building.