Sierra Leone, Abu Dhabi to expand bilateral ties

Oct 29, 2018: President of Sierra Leone Julius Maada Bio has met Yakoub Yusuf Alfu-Salim, the UAE deputy minister of foreign affairs at State House for strengthening bilateral ties. 

The envoy further stated that the visit to Freetown was also meant to deepen existing relationship between the two countries, adding that Abu Dhabi was fully committed to the development agenda of Sierra Leone.

The president added, “We are looking for help in the transportation sector and will like to have Emirates airline here to be able to move to other parts of the world easily. We have issues with connectivity all the time so we look forward to that. We are going to review the agreement between us and make sure that we not only deepen the relationship but also widen the scope of activities. We are a new government that wants to leave a very impressive footprint on the world stage. We are small but very determined. We look forward to furthering cooperation with the UAE.”

In his statement, Bio also said that his new government was building on the friendly relationships across the world and evaluating prospects at deepening and broadening them. He thanked the government of the UAE for their support to the West African nation, particularly in areas of providing scholarship opportunities for students as well as supporting the last Muslim pilgrimage to Mecca that was successfully organised by the government in Freetown.