The British High Commissioner to Sierra Leone, Lisa Chesney MBE has expressed interest in Tourism Ministry’s youth development and women empowerment programmes.

She made this disclosure during a meeting with Sierra Leone’s Minister of Tourism and Cultural Affairs, Dr. Memunatu Pratt at the Ministry’s Headquarters, Kingharman, Freetown.

The British High Commissioner, who have been to many parts of the country thus far stated that Sierra Leone was a beautiful country with a lot of potentials especially in its tourism dimension. She acknowledged and applauded the strides and initiatives the Ministry has embarked on for which she expressed interest in working with the sector in creating jobs for youths and women engaged in beach cleaning and waste management which will be coordinated by the wider British Chamber of Commerce.

On her part, Minister Pratt welcomed the High Commissioner to the Home of Hospitality saying that she was delighted to have her at the Ministry. She explained that since her appointment in 2018, the Ministry has been engaged in a lot of activities especially in rebranding the image of Sierra Leone to the international community.

She noted that she had been to the World Travel Market in London three times, but because of the Covid, the focus had been on domestic tourism which she said has yield dividend. Minister Pratt explained the efforts the sector is placing on wildlife tourism and also expressed interest in working with international organizations in wildlife tourism.

Minister Pratt continued that the Ministry enjoys cross-ministry coordination and partnerships have been forged with line MDA’s. In the area of youth development and women empowerment, Dr. Pratt said her desire was for those engaged in beach cleaning and waste management to be trained and work in bigger cleaning businesses. She called for increased private sector investment as it is the greatest challenge the sector is facing.