For his unparalleled contribution to national development, one of Sierra Leone’s most outstanding entrepreneurs, Babadi Kamara has been honoured by Chozen Generation Sierra Leone (CGSL), a group of eminent Sierra Leonean professionals.
“Congratulations to the winner; being recognised as one of the most outstanding Sierra Leoneans is no small feat,” CGSL Coordinator, Harry Henry Kargbo commended Mr Kamara for his indelible footprint at the sands of time. The processes used to arrive at the nomination was thorough and rigorous, but Kamara’s good works positively carve a good niche for himself.
Every year, the nomination process is carried out by asking the public to nominate Sierra Leoneans who perform exceptionally well in their fields.
For 2022, contributions towards professional development of young people was the yardstick for the selection of hardworking and patriotic Sierra Leoneans. Through the job search platform award, CGSL received hundreds of nominations and set up a committee of seven professionals from various walks of life.
They conducted background checks using indices such as leadership track record, patriotism (love for Sierra Leone), national impact and accomplishment for 2022 among others. The 2022 final list comprises entrepreneurs, religious leaders, medical personnel, philanthropists and artists.
According to CGSL, 2022 was a challenging year, but the entrepreneur, Babadi Kamara managed to perform exceptionally well in his own field touching the lives of many Sierra Leoneans.
He used his service, business knowledge and skills as well as craftsmanship to inspire change and to build the most-craved positive image for Sierra Leone not only in 2022 but also throughout the years.
CGSL is here to ensure that the exceptional performer knows that Sierra Leoneans see him as a game changer and they are grateful for such a great work.
The award, by no means, signal complacency as Kamara seems ready to do more to lift generations of Sierra Leoneans out of poverty.
Who Is Babadi Kamara?
Babadi Kamara is a household name in Sierra Leone owing to his important role in the development of Sierra Leone. He is the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Bo Rangers Football club which he picked up from a dying state as it hardly won trophies owing to financial imbalances.
Mr kamara is also the Team Manager for the National Team, Leone Stars and same time, CEO of the Timber exporting company, Leadway which has led the way throughout the years.
When Mr Kamara took over as Team Manager, he inherited less than Le10m (ten million Leones), and during his leadership, the club generated Le1bn (one billion Leones) from gate proceeds, donations, sales of jersey and support from FIFA/CAF Corona relief through Sierra Leone Football Association. No management structure exists and dubbed as a club in crisis.
With his wealth of experience and philanthropy, he gave life to Bo Rangers and the team was a force to reckon with as he does not spare his resources to keep the club up and running at a pace beyond measure.
He had a vision defined by three main objectives: to structure the club, have a club house and secretariat win the league championship, and these were achieved as he let nothing stood his way.
Transparency and accountability hallmarks Mr Kamara’s administration, and under his leadership, Bo Rangers is today the envy of all clubs in Sierra Leone.
He allows people to see through every step on the way as he readily provides facts and figures on demand at anytime. The club has been at the African championship for close to six years bringing home several laurels.
The Southern club has also won trophies in the local leagues with the recent one being the latest, and the club is also set to emerge champion of this year’s competition.
The club is today mentioned in the same list as those giants in the sub-region, and by observing the key principle of fair play, the club is sure to reach its zenith in the soccer world.
The club won the highest honour in the local premier league competitions when it clinched the trophy this year, a rare moment and achievement for the young football club in Sierra Leone.
Football officials also acknowledged and recognised the great role Babadi played to see that Leone Stars re-appeared at African Cup of Nations (AFCON) after 25 years.
The height attained by the club in the short period of Babadi’s leadership is not a stroke of fortune but through good planning and implementation.
With an established and long-standing presence in the private sector, his company, Leadway which has been a dominant force has yielded heavy dividends to the government and people of Sierra Leone.
Mr Kamara dispenses financial obligations he owes government in the form of taxes and lends a helping hand to vulnerable groups especially during life-threatening situations.
Babadi’s Philanthropy
Mr Kamara is not only a successful businessman but also a celebrated philanthropist.
A good number of students in various universities and colleges have benefitted from his great kindness and magnanimity as he offers scholarships to students in different academic fields within and outside Sierra Leone.
A number of students have also left for China in pursuit of different courses with Babadi footing the bill. The students have returned home to contribute to national development through diverse spheres of national development.
Spending huge sums of money on the academic foot soldiers portrays Babadi Kamara as one who believes that investment in education has no equal anywhere in the world.
It is a lifetime investment whose results are hardly seen in the short-run, but it makes the nation glitters in the long-run. The words of one of the world’s most respected philosophers are worthy of mention here.
Aristotle says “when you want to invest for a year, plant crops, when you want to invest for a decade, plant trees and when you want to invest for a lifetime, educate the young.”
No development takes place in a country deficient in education, and it is also an axiom that no country rises above its literacy standards; educationists have argued that no country can develop if it literacy standard does not exceed 40 percent.
On his own, Babadi Kamara has also constructed a standard stadium known as the Southern Arena in Sierra Leone’s second capital, Bo, and is now a suitable alternative to the National Stadium in Freetown.
Having gone through rigorous assessment by international experts, the Southern Arena can host international matches making kamara a man of the moment not only in his homeland but also Sierra Leone and beyond.
At the moment, every Sierra Leonean wanted to see a man widely known as the greatest philanthropist.
The Southern Arena project has created thousands of jobs for the jobless men and women in Sierra Leone, a move considered as the great contribution to Sierra Leone’s economy.
In designing the building, the Bo Rangers Team Manager was conscious about providing comfort to visitors or residents despite budget constraints. The Southern Arena stands as a glowing testimony of a vision transformed into reality but on a gradual scale. No gainsaying that he spent sleepless nights in writing and sending proposals to organisations as well as individuals in his fund raising campaign for such an ambitious project.
On the day of launching, Mr Kamara told Sierra Leoneans that the Southern Arena marked the achievement of an important milestone in the history and future of Bo city.
The stadium, he said, would serve as a platform where young players who choose football as a career can show their talents to the world.
The Southern Arena project also placed Babadi Kamara in advantageous position to prepare and produce football stars who he met nowhere but had taken them somewhere.
He has tirelessly worked in ensuring that local talents fly high Sierra Leone’s flag in countries thousands of miles away from home, and many of these footballers are today making fortunes they have never dreamed of. Suffice it to say that Babadi Kamara’s unprecedented good works endeared him to many Sierra Leoneans.
He enjoys a cosy and rosy relationship with the public, government and grassroot.
His work however does not stop there; his philanthropy transcends the bounds of his own foot club. In years to come, he will do wonders if only he gets the necessary support and cooperation from the people of Sierra Leone.
Babadi Kamara’s contribution to nation building is also felt in government circles as he heavily throw his weight behind government’s human capital development, health and energy services.
In his effort at building a modern Sierra Leone, Kamara knows no tribe and region as he is ready to support any government or anybody in any part of the country. The list of his works is not exhaustive and such preeminently qualifies him for the noble GCSL award.