Before the end of December 2023, some local contractors were very optimistic about the government’s firm promise to settle a huge chunk of the verified domestic arrears owed them. However, they were deeply disappointed when they started getting all sorts of excuses from some senior officials in the Ministry of Finance including the Minister himself. In the beginning, they were …

Sierra Leone’s Minister of Transport and Aviation, Alhaji Fanday Turay Esq and the Minister of Transport and Logistics of Saudi Arabia, Saleh Al-Jasser, have signed a bilateral Air Service Agreement (ASA) to allow the free movements of commercial flights between the two countries. The milestone signing of the ASA agreement between the two countries at the 15th International Civil Aviation …

His Excellency President Dr Julius Maada Bio has joined other Heads of State and Government on a Presidential Panel with the theme: ‘Unlocking Africa’s Value-Chains’ and talked about the barriers to Africa’s economic transformation. In his royal address to the opening of the Africa Investment Forum, His Majesty Mohammed VI, King of Morocco, said that Morocco had made infrastructural development …

His Excellency President Dr Julius Maada Bio has, in two separate developments, met His Excellency Dr Yousef bin Abdullah Al-Benyan, the Saudi Minister of Education and also engaged Yasir bin Othman Al-Rumayyan, Governor of the Saudi Public Investment Fund, PIF, the sovereign wealth fund of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. In his meeting with Dr Yousef Al-Benyan, President Bio paid …

Ahead of the Financial Year 2024 Budget Speech Day on Friday, 10th November, 2023 the Government is currently scrutinizing proposals for tax increases on imported cement and iron rods, according to a senior official in the Ministry of Finance. An emergency Cabinet meeting was held yesterday to look at the proposals. Up until last night, there was no confirmation that …

The Press Secretary at State House, Solomon Jamiru Esq, yesterday confirmed the appointment of Dr Ibrahim Stevens as the substantive Governor of the Central Bank. He succeeds Prof Kelfala Kallon. Dr. Stevens, who held the position of Deputy Governor since 2014, brings a wealth of experience, including a background as a Senior Economist at the Bank of England and holding …

His Excellency President Dr Julius Maada Bio has addressed the Committee of Ambassadors from the Organisation of African, Caribbean and Pacific States (OACPS), on the sidelines of the Rebranding Africa Forum, making a strong case for Sierra Leone as one of Africa’s investment destinations. The President, who was in Brussels, Belgium, on Friday as a guest of honour and keynote …

By Mohamed Fofanah saramadifofana@gmail.com. ARISE Integrated Industrial Platforms (ARISE IIP) began an intensive operation on September 1, 2023, to erect boundary walls for the construction of 15 factories, providing 34,000 direct and indirect jobs in 24 months at the Sierra Leone Industrial Zones (SIZ) in Koya. Speaking at the maiden media tour on the facility Friday, ARISE announced that it …

By December last year, the Government of Sierra Leone was very enthusiastic about the idea of having a private company to manage the Pepel Railway and Port. It therefore came as no surprise that, on 10th January this year, the Government of Sierra Leone wasted no time in terminating the Lease Agreement they had signed with Kingho Railway and Port …

The last passenger railway service in Sierra Leone was terminated in 1974 under the leadership of President Dr. Siaka Stevens, the founder and leader of the All Peoples Congress (APC). Under the leadership of President Brig. (Rtd) Julius Maada Bio, passenger railway is expected to return very soon. ARISE Integrated Industrial Platforms have procured and shipped seven passenger railcars from …