On the 4th June 2005 over 300 Sierra Leone Diaspora gathered in London United Kingdom given the number of delegates, the level of debate and the quality of the outcomes the event can be said to be resounding success. The Diaspora have the potential of being a highly valuable and powerful resource for rebuilding the country. This force can only be fully realised once the means exist with which to collate and disseminate information about the opportunities, challenges and prospects for the Diaspora to engage constructively with the country. The provision of relevant and practical information will be key in convincing, mobilising or enthusing the Diaspora to play responsible roles in rebuilding their country.

With this prerequisite in place, there is the distinct prospect of the Diaspora deploying their skills in the country, lending their expertise and resources to public, private or non-profit ventures, or to channelling their resources into ventures in their country through secondary or tertiary avenues, while they remain in the Diaspora.

The involvement of key stakeholders and decision makers inside and outside Sierra Leone – Government of Sierra Leone (GOSL), Department for International Development (DFID ) United Kingdom, private sector in Sierra Leone and the Diaspora will lead to a greater understanding, and the ability to implement effective strategies to invigorate investment in SL. It is against this background that DFID, the largest bilateral developmental partner to the GOSL organized the Sierra Leone Consultative Investment and Networking Forum. AfricaRecruit facilitated the Forum with the support of the Sierra Leone Diaspora (SLD).

The aims of the Forum were to mobilise, inform and engage the SLD in the rebuilding process of SL.  Specifically, the Forum was intended to: