SIERRA LEONE – Bolloré Transport and Logistics, a French multinational firm has revealed that it has invested about US$1 million in human capital development in Sierra Leone over the last eight years.
Captain Fabjanko Kokan, Bolloré’s Country Manager for Sierra Leone, made this disclosure at a press conference held at the company’s Freetown’s headquarters.
Captain Fabjanko Kokan said that the one million dollars human capital investment in Sierra Leone was spent on training over thirty-five Sierra Leoneans, specializing in various fields.
He expressed confidence in the productivity output of Sierra Leoneans who have been trained to even operate cranes worth over 10 Million USD
According to Captain Fabjanko Kokan, this significant investment in human capital was very crucial in enabling the company to successfully conduct its operations in the country.
He further noted that Sierra Leone had also benefitted from this investment because it reduced the number of expatriates the company had to employ and thus creating more employment opportunities for the country’s citizens.
He said that “there are skilled people in Sierra Leone,” adding that since 2011 they have recorded success because majority of their managers and 98 % of their staff are Sierra Leoneans.
The Country Manager of Bolloré Transport and Logistics also revealed that the company was also heavily involved in various community activities as part of its corporate social responsibility (CSR).
The CSR activities according to him created a very good relationship with the communities located around the areas where they operate.
He highlighted the yearly marathon which his company staff take part in as an example of a CSR activity undertaken by Bollore.
He said as part of their commitment to humanity, three Euros is deducted from the salary of each worker and donated to the SOS children village to provide care for less privileged children in the country.
He assured that this coming year, they will support several more children and disability organizations.
He confirmed that this year’s marathon will take place on 25th September 2019.
Bolloré Transport and Logistics , is a major international transport and logistics operator with operations in more than 105 countries across the globe.
The French based logistics company that is renown for its port handling operations has a presence in about 17 ports in Africa and employs over 36,000 employees globally.
Some of the ports under Bolloré management include Freetown in Sierra Leone, Lagos Port in Nigeria and Port of Tema in Ghana, among others.