By Alhaji Musa
At this crucial moment when most African countries are grappling with as well as contending with the ravages of the coronavirus pandemic that are negatively impinging the economies of those countries, especially so in terms of revenue mobilization, Sierra Leone’s premier revenue collector, the National Revenue Authority (NRA) , under the leadership of its result-oriented Commissioner-General, Dr. Samuel Jibao, has been selected, among other nominees, to be awarded with the prestigious Africa Business Report Award of Africa’s Best Performing Revenue Authority. The NRA will be awarded by the Africa Business Report during the 3rd series of the African Business Summit and Awards 2021 slated to take place on the 5th March 2021 in Dubai, United Arab Emirates and will be held virtually.
According to Dr. Regina Obrah of the Africa Business Report, NRA’s selection for that prestigious award was done in recognition of the Authority’s enormous contribution to the growth and development of the African business sector through their unrelenting effort towards achieving excellent accountability in the sector.
She also stated that having distinguished the NRA as an institution to reckon with keen interest in indigenous growth within the sector and furthermore having followed the NRA’s Commissioner General’s enviable track record especially for inspiring transparency and accountability in Africa’s public service such necessitated Africa Business Report to arrive at a decision to feature him in their March, 2021 edition as a Focus Story and unveiled during Africa Business Summit and Awards 2021
Dr Obrah said towards that end they will be honouring Dr.Jibao alongside other distinguished guests through the unique visibility platform designed to bring together reputable leaders in Africa.
In his reaction, the NRA Commissioner General, Dr Samuel Jibao expressed profound thanks and appreciation to the Africa Business Report for what he referred to their incisive recognition of the work they are doing as a revenue mobilization institution on behalf of the Government. He noted that their work is indeed a very challenging one as business entities are sometimes reluctant to pay their taxes but said as a result of the high sense of professionalism displayed by members of staff of the Authority they are making progresses. The Commissioner General also stated that bagging the award now has served as a driving or propelling force for them to continue to work assiduously in terms of enhancing their efforts in revenue mobilization noting that it is the revenue that they mobilizes which forms the key source from which the Government derives funds to implement various development programmes. He enjoined all his colleagues to continue to do more in order to actualize the Authority’s mandate.
The Africa Business Report , with Corporate Headquarters in the United States of America and Africa Headquarters in Nigeria is a leading business news organization in Africa, providing business reports, emerging trends and market intelligence on Africa. It has a vision to become the most reliable vehicle reporting business development, innovations and entrepreneurial strides in Africa.
It could be recalled that this is not the first time that the NRA has been honoured and awarded for its excellent performances as is evident in the institution’s bagging of meritorious awards both local and international.