Freetown, Sierra Leone - Friday 7 December 2007 - Presentation of Sierra Leone

Sierra Leone just recently ended a decade of civil war and are about to try to hinge back to normal life as we speak. Being a nation that was first visited by the Portuguese exploiters and later used as a safe haven for discharged British slaves and civil wars it has had its share of challenges. When the people in Freetown explain different difficulties they always say "We just came out of a war". As in neighbouring Monrovia the capital city are not connected to any mainframe electrical system, but they are promised to be connected just before Christmas. As most post-war conflict zones the infrastructure is hardly hit and it affects of course the daily life of millions of Sierra Leoneans. On UNs list of best and worst places to live you will find Sierra Leone on the bottom among 177 countries.

Tourism is not yet a big earner of foreign currency, but its growing rapidly. Its peninsula is definitely worth visiting and the country has big potential both for wildlife, nautical eco-tourism as well as a haven of exclusive sandy beaches for the sun-burning white population overseas.

What does earn foreign currency is the diamond mining industry and it has become more transparent and operated by legal enterprises. The newly elected president Ernest Koroma has promised his people to fight against corruption and it  might be the trigger to bring the people out of its hardship.