By Hassan I. Conteh

Sierra Leone’s capital Freetown is on the brink of business collapse as traders go a day without business.

Mariatu Kamara sells at a wide market in the heart of Freetown. But this woman now finds it hard to get a business to buy.

But even before this time, businesses have seen a decline at the place where Mariatu was seated.

This place she usually buys plastic shoe products is called Abacha-Guinea but the stores there are experiencing business decline.

She and others sat tirelessly on a wooden table at Guinea store in the morning hours of Wednesday June 14, a day after the countrywide strike.

The civilian protesters were demanding the electoral body to make public voters’ data ahead of the polls in June 24, which is almost a week left.

Does Mariatu look sad after the protests sit-down?

“Brother, you can see yourself; since I arrived here this morning, I have not got a single business to buy,” Mariatu complains.

In context, Freetown’s has experienced a fall in business growth since Corona Virus pandemic struck the world. And Abacha where most traders conduct smaller businesses was severely touched by the crisis.

The world’s virus crisis made international trading to crumble up. The restrictions imposed by countries around the world to contain the spread of the virus disabled global trade among nations.

Since manufacturing companies in overseas were shutting down operations, the recipient countries starved of goods and food products.

People then did not have the chance to travel to other countries like China, Dubai, Ghana, and Europe, Americas to either buy business or do something else.

“We either now do online shopping or agent buying. Through online, you get to book and pay for goods while with agent buying we give our money to our business colleagues in Sierra Leone to buy goods for us in other countries like China and Dubai, “explained Mammy Haja at Malama Thomas Street in Freetown through an interview around May 2021.

Sierra Leonean business men and women had their businesses suffered a decline at the height of the pandemic.

At the time when Covid was ravaging the world, pronounced restrictive measures in Sierra Leone was touching hard on local businesses.

The closure of Sierra Leonean-Guinean border between the years 2020 and 2021 badly affected trading between the two countries.

Sierra Leone has not bounced back from its dire business status since Covid ended. While prices of goods and foodstuffs began to rise, consumers were faced with limited choices during Covid restriction periods.

The lockdowns and several curfews imposed by the state have also now resulted to an economic mess which is showing up now. The country’s inflation is hitting goods and food products at an alarming rate.

Towards the start of 2022 and now, prices on basic foodstuffs, on materials and on goods and services have doubled up than during the periods of Covid restrictions.

The US dollar is free-floating while the domestic currently fluctuates in value.  Currently, $ 100 is exchanged above Le 2m 80,000 (Two million, eight thousand leones).

Sierra Leoneans are going to the polls June 24 to elect a new government. The next president has a huge assignment to keeping the foreign exchange rate at an appreciable level.

If the dollar goes down in the future, Mariatu and others at the Sani Abacha-Guinea store will be able to buy goods in Guinea or China.

If Sierra Leone’s next president is able to lower the US dollar and adds value on the domestic legal tender, smaller and local businesses will sure to thrive again. But that also depends if China’s export of local goods to Sierra Leone also increases.