Mr. Raymond Kai Gbekie is a Private sector trade and Foreign Direct Investment expert with strong emphasis on export and value chain development, business and sector growth and business intelligence. He has experience working with the ILO, World bank, UN, UNCTAD, European Union, ISDB/Badea, USAID and many international trade promotion organizations on a number of projects. He is also grounded in trade and investment related research, data analysis and agile project management.

Mr. Gbekie was Chief Executive Officer of Sierra Leone’s Small & Medium Enterprise Development Agency (SMEDA) till October 2018 where he adopted the use of an SME coordination software making the Agency more efficient for clients
and stakeholders. Mr. Gbekie personally contributed to product development by developing the 3-5 strategic plan, coordinating stand up meetings, review sessions and client engagement and achieved a product increment that made the Agency and clients work more efficient, effective, and productive. He also empowered teams to self-organize and grow cross-functionality while supervising project planning and implementation, leading the development of operational plans, budgets, and cost estimates.

Before his Presidential appointment and unanimous Parliamentary approval to head SMEDA, he was until May 2017 the Chief Executive Officer of the Sierra Leone Investment and Export Promotion Agency, SLIEPA where he started as the Director of Investment Promotion in 2008 till 2014. At SLIEPA, he undertook a massive Agile transformation beginning in 2014 right across the Agency while continuously coaching on the understanding of completed projects during different sprints. Guided the Agency’s initiative for their Agile transformation and software tool migration. Mr. Gbekie ensured that, with the new way of doing things, measurable goals and baseline measurement of all projects were spelt out in every rollout of the following activities: Development of a fully functional SLIEPA Website, Foreign Direct Investment Profiling/Tracking Software, Developed and migrated to high level accounting software tool, and migrated to H.R clouds, Establishment of a Trade Information Centre, Developed the Investor’s Guide to Sierra Leone (A private sector perspective). He personally contributed to the development of the framework for the product development and achieved a product instrument that made the Agency’s work more efficient, effective and productive. In 2016, Mr. Gbekie won the Chief Executive Officer of the year award among other national awards. He developed a series of national Investment promotion materials, including materials, including sector profiles, promotional videos and Investor guide to Sierra Leone and the export development guide.

Mr. Gbekie also worked at the Standard Chartered Bank SL Ltd, Freetown, Sierra Leone as Senior Relationship Manager and head of local and commodity corporate before joining SLIEPA. Until 2019 he was a part time lecturer with over 7 years of expertise both as a staff member and a senior level public and private sector operative. Mr. Gbekie holds a master’s degree in financial management from Robert Gordon University, Aberdeen, Scotland; a Bachelor of Economics degree majoring in Accounting and Finance from the HU University of Applied Sciences - Utrecht, The Netherlands, a certified scrum master from the USA and a PHD Candidate in the USA. Mr. Gbekie has attended several international and local professional courses and has made high level country and business presentations that have enriched his support to economic growth and job creation activities over the years.
 
During his days at SLIEPA, he organized the first successful Presidential Investor Roundtable (PIRT) that was well attended, and this brokered the inaugural dialogue between senior state officials and notable private sector players with His Excellency the President chairing the meeting. In 2017 he was appointed as a member of the Financial Sector Advisory Team (FSAT) in the Bank of Sierra Leone. Mr. Gbekie was also unanimously voted twice as Chairman of the Growth Sector, Sierra Leone.
 
As chairman of the Growth Sector, he controlled and managed the performance management platform and the projects of fifteen (15) state operating enterprises (SOE) that resulted in many successfully completed projects within established timeframes. The Growth Sector was part of a Presidential initiative to enhance and improve performance management and service delivery leading to inclusive economic growth and Development.

Mr. Gbekie organized and facilitated projects that made it more efficient for the MDAs to generate over 50% of their earlier reported revenue. He personally contributed to the fund-raising drive by using my network and business connections to raise funds and achieved over 60% of the required budget. This greatly helped the sector to roll out most of their operational plans effectively and productively. He led strategic planning, budgeting, and staffing efforts in response to task requirements. He is an efficient and result-oriented professional.