Succinct reports reaching The Satellite Press have revealed that, the President has dissolved the boards of all government owned parastatals. New boards, the source said, will be recruited using criteria set out in a new code of governance for State corporations.

The decision, State House source said, has to do with the president’s promise to efficiently manage the country’s natural resources and other public owned assets prudently in order to fast track national development. The new boards will be selected to ensure efficient running of State corporations and to avoid conflict of interests.

State owned enterprises form one of the largest sectors of the economy in many African countries and are important contributors to national development. SOEs provide citizens with access to vital services such as water, electricity, health, sanitation, telecommunications and transportation. The competitiveness of the private sector-led economy, including small and medium-sized enterprises, is also heavily dependent on the services and infrastructure provided by these firms.

Crucially, in a developmental state like Sierra Leone, well managed SOEs drive competitiveness, job creation and industrial development. If governed properly, SOEs can support national development.

However, many observe that SOEs during the APC era were politicized and badly managed; thereby rendering many of them managerially and technically weak and unprofitable and leaving them to depend every now and them on the central government to bail them out financially when they should be contributing to national revenue generation and job creation.