Sierra Leone takes pride in rich mineral endowment, but the resource curse does not allow her to prosper. It all boils down to the type of investors that have been exploiting the country’s natural wealth prompting a debate on for whom is Sierra Leone attractive? London Mining, SL Mining, African Minerals Limited, Kingho and others have come and gone, but left more questions than answers about credible and reliable investment. Although investors keep incessantly knocking on the doors of Sierra Leone, the country still remains arid and poor. Sierra Leone cannot favourably economically compete with most countries in Africa. Thousands of young men and women are jobless, and the proliferation of universities that turn out graduates every year makes matters worse.
A perfect and permanent solution to the job crisis is urgently needed. The economic situation compels successive governments to go in for credible investors that can lift this country from the doldrums of poverty and under-development.
Since he took over power, President Julius Maada Bio has shown more ambition going in out for honest and transparent investors to Dave the economy. In the realisation of the President’s dream, Mines Minister and the Attorney-General and Minister of Justice, Timothy Kabba and Mohamed Lamin Tarawalley respectively are facilitating the arrival of Arise Integrated Industrial Platforms (Arise IIP) in Sierra Leone to change a sad narrative.
Good stories will soon be told when the new company took over the port facilities at Pepel in PortLoko district as well as the 200km Pepel-Tonkolili railway. Arise IIP is a conglomerate of three companies specialised in designing, financing, building and managing state of the art infrastructure across Africa.
For 10 years, it is one of Africa’s largest infrastructure investment platforms operating and managing facilities in Benin, Gabon, Chad, Congo and other African countries. Its founder and Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Gagan Gupta is a seasoned entrepreneur with over 20 years of professional experience of which 12 years was spent as a top executive. Briefing Sierra Leonean journalists on a tour of its facilities in several African countries, CEO Gupta informed journalists that they had been managing the 650km railway in Gabon. The company, he said, also operated 1, 400 wagons in the African country, a move that places Arise IIP in a class of its own. “This is exactly what we wanted to replicate in Sierra Leone,” Mr Gupta assured.
The new company does not mine or exploit minerals, but will manage the port and rail facilities in Sierra Leone to support the transport and trans-shipment of the ore. “We are here for the development of the mines, and not to mine. If there is a company to transport the ore at a cheaper cost, the companies mining can now use their financial resources to expand their mining operations,” he suggested.
Arise IIP also promised to bring in a cargo train for use by Sierra Leoneans, and will support the transport of not only Iron Ore but also other aspects of the economy. With such investment that aids expansion of mining operations in the country, jobs are sure to come for the youth. SL mining which is exploiting ‘Marampa Blue’ in PortLoko has an employee figure of slightly above 1, 000.
The company resumed operations in May, 2021 after it temporally shut down mining operations in the country. It is hoped that the company will increase its employment rate when Arise IIP takes over the management of port and rail facilities. Kingho company is also expected to do the same. Arise IIP will capitalise on the sound track record established in some African countries for beneficial projects in Sierra Leone.
With an agro-processing facility in Benin, the company created 300, 000 (three hundred thousand) jobs in the country which has gone a long way in boosting the GDP. This huge success will be cascaded to Sierra Leone, a country whose youth are in dire need of jobs and livelihoods. It will also address major gaps where Kingho company has failed throughout their years of operation on the rail and port facilities.
The Chinese company, Kingho took over management of the port and rail from the defunct African Minerals Limited which had been exporting Iron Ore to other countries prior to its departure from Sierra Leone.
With the port and rail facilities under Kingho management, government does not benefit much from as royalties remain in large arrears. The situation prompted the coming of Arise IIP to Sierra Leone to help cement the investment loopholes. Evidence has shown that economies where Arise IIP have invested have been strengthened and livelihood improved.
In one of their industrial platforms in Benin Republic, the Country Director, Letondgi BEheton showcased Arise IIP’s investment strength and power. A stretch of land amounting to 10, 000 (ten thousand) hectares of land has been declared by government an Arise IIP domain of which 1, 640 hectares have been developed. Benin is an agricultural economy with an ultimate advantage in the production and export of agricultural commodities.
Cashew, Soya, Pineapples and Cotton are the main produce that was being exported raw to such countries as Russia, China, Bangladesh among others. With the arrival of Arise IIP, the Country Chief, Letondgi says, the trend has been reversed.
The commodities are now refined first before exported to other countries so that they can command high prices. Benin has today won the prize of being the largest exporter of Cotton from Africa. Letondgi explains their plans.
“What we are trying to do here is to promote agricultural commodities divided into three phases. So far, we have developed the first phase which is 400, 000 (four hundred thousand) hectares, we have 1, 240 more hectares to develop,” Benin’s Country Head explained to the journalists. For the three phases, he went on, 36 investors would take care of the zones with an investment of US$1.2bn. He also stated that investment was being operated in different units: agro-processing, manufacturing and textile units.
In the agro-processing unit, several factories exist, and 10 of them have pharmaceuticals, Coal, Soya processing and by-products. With such manufacturing and processing facilities, Benin is therefore a living agricultural commodity processor for Africa. By December 2030, the textile industry in Benin will process approximately 40, 000 (forty thousand) metric tonnes of fibre equivalent to 12.7 percent of Benin’s Fibre output.
If the company zeroes in on Fibre production, 32 integrated textile factories are needed to process the amount of Benin Fibre hovering between 300, 000 (three hundred thousand) and 350, 000 (three hundred and fifty thousand). This means 107, 000 (one hundred seven thousand) jobs will be created just for the textile industries.
It is also clear that with the addition of the garment factories, there is no question about the huge demand for jobs. Most African countries are poor today because they lack the capital to process the extracted resources. Africa exports its produce raw to advanced countries making the continent a price taker for its perishable goods.
Little wonder that Africa recurrently suffer from unfavourable terms of trade and balance of payment deficit. To give a freehand to Arise IIP, Government of Benin has placed a ban on the export on raw Cashew and Soya. Once the ban is enforced, Cashew and Soya processing will be implemented by the 10 factories.
The factories are expected to process approximately 15 to 40, 000 metric tonnes per year. These investment opportunities which African countries enjoy from Arise IIP will be brought to Sierra Leone to create jobs, improve livelihoods and boost the country’s economy for a brighter and better future.