SLRS Content Management Group

Sierra Leone is projected to grow in 2016 by 4.3 percent Gross Domestic Product (GDP) from a contraction of 21 percent last year with the resumption of iron ore mining and the end of Ebola, according to the International Monetary Fund (IMF) in a statement released on March 29.
A team from the IMF visited Sierra Leone from March 15 -29 to conduct the fifth review under the Extended Credit Facility programme (ECF) and at the end of the visit issued the statement, disclosing that “Sierra Leone’s economy is recovering from the twin shocks of the Ebola virus epidemic and the halt in iron-ore mining. Economic momentum is building again, and GDP is expected to grow by 4.3 percent this year from a contraction of 21 percent in 2015,” the statement reads.
“Shandong Iron and Steel Group (SISG) have resumed iron ore production and have shipped over 10 shiploads since the start of operation in February. But the fall in commodity prices and drop in demand from China are major challenges to the economy.
Inflation was 8.5 percent in December 2015, “but a small up-tick is expected in 2016 due to the depreciation of the Leone.” The buying rate of the Dollar currently is Le 5,887.16 and selling rate is Le 6,006.09 according to the Bank of Sierra Leone weekly exchange rate. Exchange rate on the black market is Le 6,100 buying rate and Le 6,500 selling rate.

Sekou Camara, 20, was among the first to volunteer to conduct safe and dignified burials with the Red Cross Society of Guinea when the Ebola outbreak began two years ago. Despite his young age, Sekou Camara dedicated himself to fighting Ebola, acquiring valuable experience along the way. When the outbreak was declared over, Sekou was ready for a new challenge and turned his sights to surveillance activities.

Volunteering became a passion for Sekou five years ago when he joined the Red Cross Red Crescent Movement. An orphan, Sekou grew up with his grandmother, and because of their modest living conditions, was forced to end his education after completing primary school. The local committee of the Red Cross in Kaloum became his second home where he distinguished himself through his diligence to volunteer service. “I consider the Red Cross as my second family because there I found the love and warmness of a home. It is with great pleasure and satisfaction that I bring my modest contributions to relief efforts,” says Sekou with his usual smile.

For more than a month in 2015, a multidisciplinary team including infectious disease and critical care physicians and nurses, respiratory therapists and other specialists at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) treated a critically ill patient who had contracted Ebola virus disease in Sierra Leone. A new report by the medical caregivers details the clinical course of the 34-year-old American healthcare worker who was admitted to the NIH Special Clinical Studies Unit on day 7 of his illness. The patient survived his illness with intensive supportive care, despite multi-organ failure.