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(CNN) -- Sierra Leone's economy was tarnished by a decade-long civil war, but the resource-rich African nation is now ready to bounce back, according to the country's president.
Ernest Bai Koroma said that a series of key financial reforms can help the west African country transform in the coming decades.
"I've challenged Sierra Leoneans -- and I'm sure they've accepted the challenge -- that in the next 50 years, we are not only going to transform ourselves from a low-income country, but we will get ourselves to the level of middle-income country," he says.
"By the next 50 years, Sierra Leone will be a donor nation rather than a recipient nation," Koroma adds.
The ambitious declaration comes as Sierra Leone, whose tumultuous civil war ended in 2002, is stepping up efforts to improve its weak infrastructure -- the government is working with U.S. company Joule Africa to expand the Bumbuna Hydroelectric project in order to increase generation capacity in one of sub-Saharan Africa's least electrified countries.
 Bringing business to Sierra Leone Koroma, who's been Sierra Leone's president since 2007, spoke to Marketplace Africa about the Bumbuna project and other development strategies aimed at bringing in more investors. An edited version of the interview follows.
http://edition.cnn.com/2011/10/24/business/sierra-leone-ernest-bai-koroma/
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