Fact-Check Story
Post on the official opening of the Foreign Service Academy in Freetown on Thursday 5th January 2023, the Strategic Communications Unit of the Ministry of Information and Communications tweeted, “Sierra Leone opens first Foreign Service Academy, also the first within the Mano River Region and third in the ECOWAS Region
Fact-Checkers Comments
Gabriel L. Dennis Foreign Service institute was established in 1951, as the professional training and research unit of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Liberia. (“Historical Perspective of the Gabriel Denniss Foreign Service Institute”) The institute is the first in the Mano River Union and the West Africa Sub Region
By Abdulaziz Samura
Post on the official opening of the Foreign Service Academy in Freetown on Thursday 5th January 2023, the Strategic Communications Unit of the Ministry of Information and Communications tweeted,” Sierra Leone opens first Foreign Service Academy, also the first within the Mano River Region and third in the ECOWAS Region.”
The Truth team google searched the West African sub region and discovered that the Gabriel L. Dennis Foreign Service Institute was established in 1951, as the professional training and research unit of the Ministry of Foreign affairs of Liberia. The Foreign Service Institute (FSI) is an integral component of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs established in 1951 by an Act of Legislature during the Presidency of William V.S. Tubman
According to the Liberia’s Foreign Affairs ministry website, the Gabriel L. Dennis Foreign Service Institute was established with the aim, “of providing intellectual orientation for Liberia Foreign Service Officers and Diplomats and also provide a penetrating insight and understanding the culture of Foreign Policy formulation and implementation. The Institute provides opportunity for the exchange of thought on the political dimension of global economic relations, cultural diversity, and issues of conflict.”
The Gabriel L. Dennis Foreign Service Institute is the first in the Mano Union basin and countries within the Economic Community of West African States ( ECOWAS) region.
Nigeria’s Foreign Service Academy located in Lagos was founded in 1982 to train foreign service officers before posting them to various missions abroad , and Ghana has the Legon Centre for International Affairs and Diplomacy (LECIAD ) that was purposely established in 1989 by the University as an institute for the study of international relations and diplomacy at the request of the Ghana’s Foreign affairs Ministry .
LECIAD has since earned the reputation as the centre of excellence in teaching, learning, and research in international affairs and diplomacy. (“About LECIAD | Legon Centre for International Affairs and Diplomacy”) In collaboration with the United Nations, the Africa Union and ECOWAS, among other, the centre has developed and provided training in areas such as diplomacy, negotiation, mediation, and election management according to reports on the centre’s website.
A network of diplomatic academies and institutes has also been established to ensure the continued collaboration of diplomatic academies and institutes in francophone Africa. (“Network of Diplomatic Academies and Institutes of Francophone … – UNITAR”). This includes Francophone West Africa Countries, such as Senegal, the Mali, Burkina Faso, and Ivory Coast.
The Sierra Leone’s Foreign Service Academy will enable the country to solidify its efforts in promoting foreign policy and strengthening cooperation with regional and international partners.
“We will focus on upskilling and reskilling the existing foreign service workforce through the Foreign Service Academy. Also, the Academy will recruit and train a dedicated cadre of professional career diplomats that will be globally competitive in our ever-changing world,” President Julius Maada Bio said during the commissioning.