Government of Sierra Leone Selects FreeBalance as Part of its Institutional Reform and Capacity Building Project.

ROSSLYN, Va. & OTTAWA -- Ministry of Finance selects FreeBalance Integrated Financial Management Information System

FreeBalance Inc., a global leader in E-Government software designed to enhance governance and accountability programs, today announced that the Government of Sierra Leone has selected FreeBalance to deploy its Integrated Financial Management Information System (IFMIS) as part of the government-wide Institutional Reform and Capacity Building project. The project is viewed as a critical step in the Government's program of decentralization, improved public financial management, and the achievement of its rehabilitation and poverty reduction goals.

The Government of Sierra Leone will use FreeBalance accountability solutions to manage the budgeting, accounting and financial management functions throughout all tiers of the public sector. The FreeBalance IFMIS will initially be implemented within the Ministry of Finance and the Sierra Leone Police Force.Future project phases will extend the IFMIS implementation to include all Government of Sierra Leone Ministries, Departments and Agencies. FreeBalance is also providing the associated hardware and networking infrastructure as well as customer training and ongoing professional and support services.

Mr. J B Dauda, the Minister responsible for Finance, recently noted that the Government of Sierra Leone recognizes the importance of an Integrated Financial Management Information System (IFMIS) as a tool to improve efficiency in its financial operations and to ensure improved transparency and accountability. "The Government of Sierra Leone is committed to implementing solutions that will enable transparency and accountability and improve public resource management at all levels of government," said Dr. Samura Kamara, Financial Secretary, Ministry of Finance, for the Government of Sierra Leone.

After the evaluation process, Winston Cole, Head of the Public Financial Management Reform Unit and Government of Sierra Leone Project Manager for the implementation of the FreeBalance solution, said that "FreeBalance was selected based on its global experience in public sector reform and for its unique and proven ability to deliver results quickly by providing appropriate solutions that will reflect the needs of the Government of Sierra Leone."

"We are excited to be in a position to work as partners with the Government of Sierra Leone as the country and its people move forward to an era of economic prosperity and growth," said Andrew Jackson, FreeBalance's Vice President of Marketing. "FreeBalance is now contributing to government accountability projects on five continents and as a result will be able to leverage our global best-practices as we begin work in Sierra Leone."

About FreeBalance Inc.

FreeBalance software provides modern democratic governments and governments in transition with the tools and technology required to achieve accountability and transparency. Recent FreeBalance E-Government projects include software implementations and related professional services in Afghanistan, Mongolia, Guyana, Antigua & Barbuda, Jamaica, Timor-Leste, Kosovo, Canada, and the United States. FreeBalance won both top awards at the 2004 Toronto VentureFair, Canada's Canada's premier venture capital event.