AFFORD UK in partnership with AFFORD SL through the Migration and Development (MADE) West Africa project and Diaspora Finance Initiative (DFI) project organised an in-country training workshop on ‘Enabling and Enhancing Diaspora Contribution to Development and Job Creation’ and a forum on “Reducing the cost of remittances to Sierra Leone” at the New Brookfields Hotel in Freetown, Sierra Leone from the 12-14 June 2018.
The three day event brought together over 100 participants from Government agencies, civil society & diaspora organisations, banks, money transfer organisations, Fintech companies and local businesses. The event sought to create awareness, strengthen the policy dialogue process, and support partnership initiatives among partners of Sierra Leone. The event also aimed to provide people with the opportunity to develop and share experiences and working methods relating to migration, diaspora and development. The main speakers included:
- Ade Daramy, Founder of the Sierra Leone Diaspora Network and Chair of AFFORD
- Stella Opoku-Owusu, Deputy Executive Director at AFFORD
- Joseph Lansana, Head of Private Sector at the government’s Office of Diaspora Engagement
- Binta Akibo-Betts, Policy expert