Sierra Leone's new president, Julius Maada Bio, recently traveled to the United States to attend the United Nations General Assembly. He has made big promises for changing his country, including offering free education and tackling corruption. The Sierra Leone president talked to CGTN about a range of issues related to the challenges facing his country, plans for the future and the relationship with China.

China is a long-standing friend of Sierra Leone, so as its new president, Maada Bio was invited to the country for a state trip. During the meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping, they discussed bilateral trade, multilateralism, and China's involvement on key infrastructure projects in Sierra Leone.

Before the presidential election, Maada Bio criticized former president Ernest Bai Koroma for reaching a lot of agreements with China, which he thought damaged the entire country of Sierra Leone. However, his views changed after assuming the presidency.

Maada Bio has stated that Sierra Leone is a developing country, and looks forward to cooperating with others that want to help his country develop. In addition to traditional partners such as the United Kingdom and the United States, Sierra Leone has multilateral engagements with the World Bank, European Union, and several other groups as well.

“We also have a very strong relationship with China,” said President Bio. “I wasn't critical of the relationship between Sierra Leone with China, but was very critical of a particular project, which was shrouded in secrecy in terms of the agreement.”

As for the construction of the Mamamah International Airport, President Bio stated that it does not benefit the people of Sierra Leone. The project did not go to Parliament, as there were no reviews of its costs and benefits. “It has to be renegotiated and we want to make sure it is a win-win agreement,” he said.

As for his country's struggling economic situation, President Bio has described corruption as a national threat.

Meanwhile, his government is taking measures to tackle the issue, like establishing judicial inquiry, strengthening the anti-corruption commission, and changing the leadership. In order to make people regain trust in the government, President Bio stated that Sierra Leone has to let the public know what is happening.

The president has also shown dedication to developing his people. In the past five months, the government has launched a free education initiative spanning pre-school to high school.

“For me, the most important resource is myself sitting here and my compatriots if we can develop human capital,” said President Bio. “We can make Sierra Leone better.”

On climate change, President Bio noted that log harvesting is still going on, but the government has launched a reforestation program, as well as proposed an initiative to use the proceeds from the sale of furniture made from timber to help with the replanting of deforested areas. 

The Heat with Anand Naidoo is a 30-minute political talk show on CGTN. It airs weekdays at 7:00 a.m. BJT and 7:00 p.m. Eastern in the United States