By Ralph Sesay
Fayandi Communications and the Sierra Leone Local Agency held a press conference in Freetown to help raise awareness around the need for Government and citizens of Sierra Leone observe a multi-cultural day every Friday across the country.
Chief Executive Officer and Artistic Director, Fayandi Communications, Mr. Dwarthy Bilal Fayandi Koroma, while addressing journalists lauded the Local Content Agency and the Ministry of Tourism for working towards promoting a joint vision, in promoting local content and visibly showcase the rich heritage of the country.
The Fayandi CEO expressed dissatisfaction that Sierra Leoneans have not been able to showcase their culture like Ghanaians and Nigerians do in terms of what they wear.
He indicated that Ghanaians are proud of their Kente Cloth while the Nigerians are proud of their Agbadah.
Sierra Leoneans, according to him, had abandoned the Ronko and the Country cloth which are two main national dresses in the country.
He added that Members of Parliament and other state officials in the country have failed to showcase the two dresses to portray Sierra Leone at international functions.
The vision of Fayandi Communications and the Local Content Agency is to use every Friday as a day to wear our national African dress across the country.
Sierra Leoneans, he recounted, should dress African, eat African and also drink African and tell African stories every Friday as a way to showcase a multi-cultural day in the country.
He expressed their desire to see government pass this into law in the not too distant future.
The multi-cultural day, he emphasized, will culminate into national competition every day with a view to award the best five individuals with the best African dress across the country.
The multi-cultural day, according to the Fayandi Communications CEO, which will start with the observance of the Friday dress will help in luring tourists into the country and also promote national cohesion, peace and unity in the country.
Fayandi Communications is a Media Non-Governmental Performing Arts Multicultural Organization established in 1997 in Freetown.
The Director, Local Content Agency, Sierra Leone who gave the keynote address, thanked the Local Content Agency, saying that the hosting of the event is a milestone in the strides to promoting the local content in the country.
He indicated that the tourism and cultural sectors are pivotal in the local content drive.
The vision of Fayandi Communications and the local content agency vision are to promote national cohesion as envisaged in the medium term national development plan 2019-2023.
The Local Content Agency Director emphasized that President Bio has a very clear vision about where the country should be in the next few years.
He underscored the pint that they at the Local Content Agency are determined to ensure that every Sierra Leonean takes leadership and ownership to every spectrum of the value chain.
The Director concluded by committing the Local Content Agency’s commitment to work with Fayandi Communications in promoting this vision.
He called on Sierra Leoneans to start wearing Sierra Leone, eat Sierra Leone and drink Sierra Leone moving forward.
A representative of a coalition of over 800 SMEs recounted that the effective functioning of SMEs is critical to the Local Content process.
He expressed his disappointment that many SMEs in the country are not doing well because they are not getting the required financial loans from the Government of Sierra Leone.
He cited the once flourishing gara tie dying industry in Makeni, northern Sierra Leone which, according to him, has been abandoned largely due to lack of financial loans by the Government.
He appealed for loans for the development of the sector so that it will contribute to the development of the economy and the local content policy.
The showcasing of the multi-cultural day is promoted by Sierra Leone’s largest and most reliable GSM company, Africell.