Festus Tarawalie - Rome Correspondent
Sierra Leone’s Vice President Samuel Abu Sam-Sumana and Italy’s Foreign Minister Franco Frattini have pledged to bolster ties between their countries. The two men were speaking during a packed joint press conference on Sunday in the Italian city of Rimini. Earlier discussions between Italian officials and the vice president centred on major bilateral economic aspects, including prospects for an investment promotion and protection agreement for Italian companies operating or planning to operate in Sierra Leone and a donor conference for Sierra Leone before the end of the year.
VP Sam-Sumana is among four African leaders invited to the annual meeting for friendship among peoples, commonly known as the Rinimi Meeting, named after the city on the Adriatic coast of Italy in which it is held around this time each year. The week-long meeting of debate and dialogue on major political and socio-economic issues affecting our world is organised by the Communion and Liberation Movement. This year’s theme is ‘Knowledge is Always an Event’ and according to the organisers some 700,000 people attended the various sessions.
The first roundtable discussion of the encounter on Sunday focused on the challenges facing the African continent. Among the panellists were, VP Sam-Sumana in the place of President Ernest Bai Koroma, Kenyan Prime Minister Raila Odinga, National Security Minister of Uganda Amama Mbabazi, Foreign Minister of Tanzania Bernard Kamilius Membe, Italy’s Foreign Minister and Carl Bildt, Swedish Minister for Foreign Affairs. He currently holds the rotating presidency of the European Union.
The Vice President delivered a paper on ‘Africa’s Forgotten Conflicts’ in which he outlined some of the continent’s present trouble spots such as Somalia, Sudan, Democratic Republic of Congo, and northern Uganda. He lamented that most of these conflicts are under reported in the international media. This he said may make conflicts drag on for years and sometimes exploited by unscrupulous arms dealers and others interested in pillaging Africa.
The VP also spoke of some of the terrible things that happen during conflicts such the raping of women, abduction of Children and their use as child soldiers, not to mention the hundreds of thousands and even millions displaced internally or rendered refugees.
He added that conflicts pose a big problem to development and can spread to neighbouring countries if left unchecked, therefore the need for the international community to intervene in a timely manner to nip them in the bud and to provide necessary humanitarian aid.
On a more positive note, H.E. Sam-Sumana, pointed to some of the encouraging signs from Africa as far as conflict resolution is concerned. He gave the example of Sierra Leone, Mozambique, Ivory Coast, Burundi, Liberia, and Rwanda as countries that have made significant progress in consolidating their hard earned peace.
Meanwhile, during the joint press conference with Italy’s Foreign Minister, the VP once again spoke of how Sierra Leone has made big strides following the end of the civil war in 2002 and also highlighted the opportunities the country now offers for investors. However, he citied youth unemployment and the need to revamp the economy as two of the many challenges facing the country in this post-war period.
On the sidelines of the gathering, the Sierra Leone delegation also held several bi-lateral meetings which fell within the context of the Italian government’s special foreign policy focus on Africa. The Italian Foreign Minister visited four African countries including Sierra Leone earlier this year. On his return, his ministry organised a country presentation for each of the four nations he visited. Italy is currently working to promote initiatives aimed at reviving economic/trade relations with Africa.
In the press conference, Minister Frattini reiterated that the continent represents an opportunity for Italy and is a key political player in the world affairs of the 21st century. The minister therefore discussed with the his African quests issues of both bilateral and multilateral cooperation and, among these, reform of the UN Security Council rand the initiative that Italy is poised to launch at the UN General Assembly to ban female genital mutilation worldwide.
Other key speakers at the Rimini Meeting this year are Tony Blair, former British prime minister and Jeb Bush, former governor of the US state of Florida.
The vice president was accompanied at the Rimini Meeting by Minister of Trade and Industry David O. Carew, Minister of Energy and Water Resource Professor Ogunlade Davidson, and the Director of Attitudinal Change Philip Conteh. Others are Mrs Chrispina Wright, the head of Chancery at the Embassy of Sierra Leone in Berlin, Germany, Sierra Leone’s Honorary Consul in Milan, Alessandro Rosso and his assistant Captain Edward Yamba Koroma.
Meanwhile, Italian Trade Enterprise, a company formed in Sierra Leone last year to promote trade and investment ties with Italy is preparing a travel mission of prospective investors to Sierra Leone before the end of the year.
The writer works for Vatican Radio and is also a member of Sierra Leone’s Permanent Representation at the UN offices in Rome (FAO/IFAD/WFP)
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