INFORMAL SECTOR REVOLUTION
…DG DABOH SEEKS EGYPT’S PARTNERSHIP
The Director General of the National Social Security and Insurance Trust (NASSIT), Mohamed Fuaad Daboh, on Wednesday, 3rd June, 2026, called for strategic institutional collaboration between NASSIT and the Egyptian Embassy in Sierra Leone to extend essential social security protection to Sierra Leone’s expansive informal sector. The appeal came at a critical juncture as NASSIT advances a legislative framework for an Informal Sector Policy to incorporate workers previously excluded from traditional social security schemes.
Speaking to the Ambassador at the Egyptian Embassy in Freetown, Mr Daboh pointed out that “in Sierra Leone, nearly 90% of the active labour force works in the informal sector, thereby leaving small-scale market traders, artisans, drivers, and farmers without retirement or invalidity benefits”. Describing social security as a basic human right, the Director General emphasised that Sierra Leone’s long-term economic resilience depended significantly on expanding these legal safety nets beyond corporate and government institutions.
He informed the Ambassador that the Informal Sector Project had obtained Cabinet approval for its policy and that the draft bill was currently with the Law Officers’ Department for review and submission to Parliament. He added that NASSIT had been actively engaging with international partners to enhance its implementation framework. “With diplomatic support from the Egyptian Embassy, NASSIT aims to adopt modern social protection strategies to suit the local context,” Fuaad Daboh said.
Responding with great enthusiasm, the Egyptian Ambassador to Sierra Leone, Her Excellency Rasha Soliman Mohi Eldin Soliman, reiterated Cairo’s commitment to extensive bilateral cooperation with Sierra Leone, emphasising her country’s readiness to support technical exchanges, capacity development, and comprehensive social protection systems, in line with Sierra Leone’s national development strategy.
Ambassador Soliman highlighted Egypt’s demand-driven strategy for development partnership, noting that the Embassy of Egypt was fully ready to collaborate by sharing its expertise to support Sierra Leone’s social protection objectives. She emphasised that effective cooperation between the two nations depended on practical, hands-on knowledge exchange. “Egypt will support vocational collaboration, capacity development for social security workers, and technical advisory services to help Sierra Leone’s future informal pension scheme become a regional success story”, she concluded.
The Deputy Director General in charge of Operations, who also serves as the Chairman of the Informal Sector Technical Committee, and Victor Immanuel Samai, the Executive Assistant to the Director General and a member of the Informal Sector Secretariat, accompanied the Director General.
NASSIT, WE CARE!