Unisa Dizo-Conteh

The outbreak of Ebola virus disease (EVD) which struck Sierra Leone in May 2014, and lasted until November 2015, brought with it a tragic death toll, as well as devastation of families and communities and disruption to social life. The 18-month crisis had an equally devastating effect on the country’s economy and businesses, particularly its SMEs. The various domestic and international interventions imposed to contain the outbreak, including restrictions on travel and trade, and emergency measures to curtail movement and gatherings, increased economic hardship and impacted diaspora and foreign investors with operations in the country. In addition, the collapse in commodity prices during the Ebola outbreak, including the global price of iron ore, affected the mining sector, and also had a significant economic impact resulting in decline in government revenue, job losses and drop in income for SMEs in the supply chain.

African Foundation for Development (AFFORD-UK) is a diaspora-development organisation which works to expand and enhance the contribution that Africans in the diaspora make to Africa’s development. AFFORD-UK has over 20 years of experience of working with diaspora communities in the United Kingdom. One of its strategic goals is to expand and enhance the role of the diaspora in job creation in Africa. For the past decade, AFFORD-UK has applied its pioneering and innovative expertise to the subject matter of job creation in Africa, especially in post-conflict Sierra Leone.