success of this venture. in closing, i wish to thank all those who have helped us in getting to where we are today, and seek your continued assistance as we traverse this very difficult terrain. in this regard, i wish to make special mention of the stock exchange technical committee ( setc ) first initiative, the commonwealth secretariat, the west african institute for financial and economic management, the team of local lawyers headed by mr eke halloway, as well as market practitioners in neighbouring countries who have been unrelenting in sharing their experiences and expertise with us. naming people in these situations can be invidious, but let me crave your indulgence to mention mr maroof matin, the resident consultant provided by first initiative, mr jacob kanu of first discount house, mr melvin tucker, former deputy governor and other members of the stock exchange technical committee. to all of these, i say thank you very much and please let us continue to work together for a more prosperous sierra leone. thank you for your attention.

its outreach depth to a greater number of small businesses in and around freetown. only five months after the commencement of operations at its head office, the bank requested and was given permission to open a branch in kissy on 14th december, 2007. and we are delighted to note that another branch will soon be opened in lumley – the west end of freetown. the challenge after lumley is for procredit to extend its activities in other areas of the country, which may be more deserving for their services. by our estimates so far, procredit has already made some mark in the domestic banking industry and is poised to do more. as at end january, 2008, the bank ’ s credit portfolio amounted to about le8. 0 billion ; this was disbursed to 1, 440 customers. deposit base during the same period stood at about le3. 0 billion, with an impressive record of 5, 600 deposit accounts. what is important here is that many of these customers are first - time account holders who might have found it difficult to open accounts with the traditional commercial banks. loan recovery has also recorded a formidable and impressive rate. we therefore commend the management and staff for this ground - breaking performance. microfinance activities now include products such as micro credit, micro insurance, mobile banking, etc, which are designed to increase the product portfolio and provide customers with a variety of products that are easily accessible. we believe that with the increased efforts to further institutionalise microfinance activities in the country, we will soon see a wider variety of microfinance products for small scale producers. madam chair, i believe this is a befitting occasion to discuss what we, at the bank of sierra leone, are doing to foster an efficient, sound and stable financial sector, including microfinance. the bank of sierra leone, in collaboration with mitaf, is drafting guidelines for the regulation and supervision of deposit - taking microfinance institutions. development in this area is far advanced. the bank of sierra leone has also recognised the need to bring the legal framework for regulating the banking sector consistent with international best practice. hence, in consultations with our international partners, ( adb, imf, world bank, etc ), the bank of sierra leone is undertaking a comprehensive review of the banking act 2000, and the anti - money laundering act 2005 in order to align them with international best practices and to address some of the weaknesses which have been identified while