In his state of the nation address on Monday, 31st July, 2023 the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, Chief Bola Ahmed Tinubu, said very bluntly,

“Our economy is going through a tough patch and you are being hurt by it. The cost of fuel has gone up. Food and other prices have followed it. Households and businesses struggle. Things seem anxious and uncertain. I understand the hardship you face. I wish there were other ways. But there is not. If there were, I would have taken that route as I came here to help not hurt the people and nation that I love”. This is a blunt statement of fact about the Nigerian economy.

In his campaign to become President, Bola Ahmed Tinubu promised to remove subsidy on fuel when elected to the office of President. He announced the removal of fuel subsidy on the day he was sworn-in as President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. President Bola Ahmed Tinubu admitted in his recent state of the nation address that Nigeria faces “serious economic challenges”.

Here at home, the Minister of Finance, Sheku Ahmed Fantamadi Bangura, in the Supplementary Government Budget and Statement of Economic and Financial Policies delivered in Parliament on July 31st, 2023 said, “Mr. Speaker, Honourable members, the Sierra Leone economy continues to grapple with the spillovers of the Ukraine crisis and associated global economic uncertainty, culminating into weak domestic economic activity, rising inflation, exchange rate depreciation, and higher debt levels. The implications of these developments on domestic revenue collection and expenditure management cannot be underestimated”. The Minister has said in very clear terms that Sierra Leone is going through serious economic challenges.

According to Minister Fantamadi Bangura, Government will reduce subsidy on petroleum products to finance vital programs like the Free Quality Education, free healthcare, social safety net and Feed Salone.

The indirect subsidy on petroleum products during the first half of 2023 amounted to US$35 million. This is what government paid to subsidize the price of petroleum products. This, according to the Minister, is no longer sustainable. Prices of petroleum products are due to go up imminently, according to industry experts.

On electricity tariffs, the Finance Minister said very bluntly, “Mr. Speaker, Honourable members, in particular, the weak financial performances of EDSA, poses a major risk. With support from the World Bank, Government is working to contain this risk to improve the financial and operational sustainability of EDSA. In this context, Government is working with the World Bank to reduce the technical and commercial losses incurred by EDSA as well as develop a tariff formula that reflects the local currency cost of imported fuel to facilitate the regular adjustment of electricity tariffs”. This, in simple terms means that, electricity tariffs are bound to go up.

The good news is that, the Government will continue to fund the implementation of the Free Quality Education program, the free health care initiative and will invest heavily in the “Feed Salone” manifesto commitment made by His Excellency President Dr Julius Maada Bio.
President Tinubu ended his state of the nation address on a positive note, “I assure you my fellow country men and women that we are exiting the darkness to enter a new and glorious dawn”.
Sierra Leoneans are resilient. The fact of the matter is that, there are hard times ahead. But we are confident that, with President Dr Julius Maada Bio at State House, we shall overcome.
God bless Mama Salone!