The Mayor of Freetown City, Yvonne Aki-Sawyerr, has been honoured by the World Economic Forum, SCHWAB Foundation, as the Outstanding Public Social Intrapreneur of the year 2023.

She was awarded for her “visionary, pragmatic and courageous contribution to significantly improve the state of the world.”

Reacting to such honour, she wrote on Twitter: “Humbled to receive this by post today. Couldn’t attend the award ceremony in person because I was in court that day. Thanks, @schwabfound & @wef for this recognition. I remain committed to serving Freetonians & look forward to continuing our journey to #TransformFreetown.”

Yvonne Aki-Sawyerr is the Mayor of Freetown City Council, Sierra Leone, since May 2018. She has a professional finance background and she is committed to transforming the city’s services, infrastructure and environment using an inclusive data-driven approach.

Her three-year Transform Freetown plan details 19 concrete targets in 11 sectors covering issues ranging from waste management to improving urban planning and tackling environmental degradation.

Yvonne’s public-sector engagement began with her work as Director of Planning at the National Ebola Response Centre during the Ebola outbreak of 2014-2015.