Local Content DG Attends Multinational Enterprise Summit

 The Director General of Sierra Leone Local Content Agency (SLLCA), Fodeba Daboh attended the multinational enterprise summit in Turin in Italy.

The five-day summit was attended by countries in like Liberia, Nigeria, Algeria, Jamaica, Zambia, South Africa, Ethopia, and Zimbabwe, among others. Officials of Ministry of Labour, Employers Federation and also the Labour Congress also attended the summit.


The Director General attended the summit on the invitation from ILO. Prior to the invitation, he said in March this year, ILO partnered with SLLCA so that the it will roll out the Multinational Enterprise Declaration Policy in Sierra Leone.


Following his returning from a week long Summit in Italy, the Director General said during the summit, he looked at best practices for local content in other countries like Congo where they have multinational corporation in the oil and gas sector that build the capacity of citizens.


He said that these multinationals usually build the capacity of indigenous in Congo by sending them for trainings overseas, adding that this is the expectation of multinational companies working in Sierra Leone. The director general wants the multinational companies to build the capacity of indigenous of Sierra Leone.


“That is why we are currently encouraging multinational companies to transfer skills to indigenes in their operating communities,” he said.


According to him, the objective of the summit was to strengthen the capacity of government institutions, employers and the workers within the country so that they will apply the principles of the declaration.

He explained that International Labour Organization (ILO) has this tripartite way of resolving things, which is the government, employers and the workers sitting together in the same room to talk about the issues, so that they could address them amicably.

“As a result of the partnership, they invited me as a strategic partner to attend this year’s summit. This summit speaks about match making, market linkages and creating linkages between the multinational companies and the Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) working in their locality,” he said.

“The action point for us in Sierra Leone is to ensure that we raise awareness on the multinational principles. This declaration was put together by government of different countries, employers and the workers. They agreed that there should always be social dialogue in address issues that has to do with employment issues and labour related issues, among others,” he said.

He said that the multinational policy is a voluntary guideline put together for best practices.

He emphasized, “So, you see the link between what they do and the work we do. I feel honoured that I was invited, and I look forward to continuing working closely with ILO in ensuring that the Multinational enterprises declaration is popularized.”