Sustainability is "protecting the investment" in order to be able to "build upon it" in the future, according to H.E. Hajja Ramatulai Wurie, Minister of Higher and Technical Education of Sierra Leone.
"We want to take ownership of how we push forward our national development with cooperation and support from our development partners. But it has to be done in a sustainable manner because otherwise we lose that investment and it becomes fragmented and we do not build upon the gains," the minister says.
One such investment are the natural resources of Sierra Leone. The country "encourages" Russian mining companies "to come in and invest" into developing Sierra Leone's mining sector, according to H.E. Julius Mattai, Minister of Mines and Land Resources of Sierra Leone.
"I do believe we got quite a lot, and we do believe we can also reciprocate, even though we are at different levels of maturity when it comes to [...] infrastructure, industrialization and innovation. I mean, we know the Russian Federation is at a very high level. Yes, it's a mutually beneficial relationship, but we do believe we'll get more from the Russian Federation," he explains.
Unfortunately, there is "a tendency" of Western countries "to dictate things in ways" that are not aligned with the "needs and aspirations" of African countries.
"I do believe some of the ex-colonial countries are still indirectly putting pressure on our governments through democratic reforms and so many other political-economic tools that now the colonialism has morphed into something which some people call neo-colonialism, H.E. Min. Mattai elaborates.
To hear what else the ministers had to say, check out the entire episode of the AfroVerdict podcast, brought to you by Sputnik Africa.
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