Sierra Leone News: Bollore Maintains Reputation for Empowering Sierra Leoneans

By Alusine Sesay

Developing the technical skills of locals is crucial to the development of Sierra Leone.

Bollore Transport and Logistics, a multinational company operating in Sierra Leone, has been very successful in empowering local employees with technical skills. The company had invested US$1, 000,000 in building the capacities of local employees.

The Country Manager of Bollore Transport and Logistics, Captain Fabjanko Kokan said on Tuesday that, the company had trained 35 crane operators and specialists. Previously, crane specialists are scarce in the country.

He said that notion that Sierra Leone lacks skilled workforce is not true. He said with an investment in building the capacities of locals, a company will have the specialist skills it needs locally. He emphasised that Sierra Leone has the specialist skills that are needed by firms, but they just need to invest in building those skills.

Captain Kokan said that 98 percent of employees of Bollore are Sierra Leoneans, adding that most of the people occupying managerial positions in the company are locals. He said that the company had invested US$150 million in port expansion, operation, infrastructure and equipment since 2011.

He said that the company pays employees well, and their medical policy covers employee and spouse and four dependents. He said each year they spend over two billion Leones on medical.

He said that the company has robust safety policy, and has not recorded any major accident during operation since 2015, and that they have an insurance cover for employees in cases of accident.

On corporate social responsibility, captain Kokan said that the company has provided scholarship to university students living in the community where the company operates and support community projects. He said that they are also supporting the less privileged and vulnerable children.

Captain Kokan said that their tariff for throughput services is little and constitutes less than 0.05 percent of inexpensive goods imported into the country. He emphasised that their tariff is charged and paid in local currency.

“Bollore is not a simple company; Bollore is a modern company,” he said.