United Bank for Africa Sierra Leone Limited on Wednesday, November 30, 2022 has signed a partnership Memorandum of Understanding with the Sierra Leone Small and Medium Enterprises Development Agency (SMEDA) at SMEDA’s Head Office in Freetown.As part of UBA-SL’s financial inclusion and sustainable development drive, the goal of this partnership aimed taking the lead in the growth and development of SMEs in the country and partnering with SMEDA ideally to achieve this drive, as SMEDA is charged with the responsibility to design and implement development support programmes and schemes for SMEs.

In his remark during signing of the MOU, the Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer (MD/CEO), UBA-SL, Mr. Usman Isiaka informed that the partnership aligns with the strategic focus of the UBA Group of growing the SME business segment across all the 20 countries where the bank operates in Africa, with the establishment of an SME Business Unit in the bank and development of various products and services that are specifically designed to meet the requirements of the small and medium business owners. Mr Isiaka further disclosed plans by UBA-SL to be soonest leveraging on the global expertise of its parent company, UBA Plc to support SMEDA towards the achievement of its objectives in the SME space.

This partnership marks the beginning of a mutual beneficial relationship between UBA-SL, SMEDA and the entire SME stakeholders in Sierra Leone.

In attendance during the signing of the MOU were, Mr. Usman Imam Isiaka (MD/CEO, UBA), Mr. Sharka Samuel Sannoh (CEO, SMEDA), Mr. Melvin Foray (Enterprise Development Planning and Development Manager-SMEDA), Mrs. Victoria Olukotun (Head, Retail Banking, UBA-SL), Mr. Samuel Soka (Head, SME Banking, UBA-SL) and cross section of senior staff of SMEDA.

The SMEDA is a government entity established under the SMEDA Act No.11 of 2016. The Act was developed through a stakeholder’s consultation and a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) signed between the Bank of Sierra Leone, the Ministry of Finance, Ministry of Trade and Industry and the International Labour Organization (ILO) to fine-tune the SME policy and strategy that was developed in 2014.