Sheku Sambadeen Sesay: Issues relating to Africa in the context of the global financial and economic crisis Statement by Mr Sheku Sambadeen Sesay, Governor of the Bank of Sierra Leone, at the dinner in honour of the delegates for the African Caucus Meeting, hosted by the Bank of Sierra Leone, Freetown, 16 August 2010. *  *  *  Ministers of Finance Governors of central banks Head of delegations Distinguished Ladies and Gentlemen On behalf of the President of the Republic of Sierra Leone, Dr. Ernest Bai Koroma and the Board and Directors of the Bank of Sierra Leone, it is my profound pleasure to extend a warm welcome to all distinguished personalities assembled here this evening. I believe that since your arrival here in Freetown you have had a taste of the typical African hospitality which is very true of the people of Freetown. As you are aware this is my first meeting since my appointment as Governor of the Bank of Sierra Leone in June this year. Our meeting is taking place at a critical period. Our countries are experiencing the effects of the slow down in the world economy triggered by the global financial crisis. As we are all aware this recent challenge far exceeds the capabilities of any single country. These challenges require international coordinations and inter-governmental collaboration which makes it imperative for us to work together.
Governance may be seen as the manner in which power is exercised in the management of a country’s social and economic resources for development. We all know that good governance involves setting adequate policies, programs and regulations, which then have to be translated into legislation. As I often say, sustainable development hinges on the consistency of economic policies – there is no substitute for consistent, sound and stability-oriented economic policies. In this context, institutions are central to the way a country is governed and these are the formal and informal rules in a society. As the Nobel Prize winner Douglas North pointed out “the formal rules are set by the state through laws and regulations, while the informal rules come from the culture, history and experience of each society”. Only in the last 10–15 years most economists have discovered good governance – with its four pillars: transparency, accountability, predictability and participation – as a major determinant of economic growth. Thus, economic governance implies the need to ensure stable, transparent and predictable rules that encourage competition and fair access to public services. It is achieved through a country’s public and private sector institutions and the civil society. Moreover, the recent international crisis has underscored the need for an in-depth reform of economic governance at both European and global levels.