By Amin Kef (Ranger)
It could be recalled that the Government of Sierra Leone on the 17th January, 2023 signed a lease agreement with ARISE Integrated Industrial Platforms Ltd (ARISE IIP) for the development, expansion, and management of the Pepel Port and Pepel-Tonkolili Railway.
After a thorough assessment of ARISE IIP by looking at the company’s profile and its remarkable achievements in other parts of Africa where it has a presence some have described the agreement signed as a landmark achievement that will serve as a game changer provided things work out well.
One distinctive aspect of this agreement is that through the intervention of ARISE IIP , as part of the terms of agreement, a leeway will be created for other companies operating or that will in the future operate in that part of the country to use the rail for the transportation purposes which at present is not the case.
From a reliable source, Arise Integrated Industrial Platform (Arise IIP) is set to pump in a lump sum of $1.2 billion to establish an Industrial Zone in Sierra Leone, which is a specific area of the national territory that will be allocated by the Government of Sierra Leone to promote agricultural production and processing (cashew nuts, cotton, soybeans, shea butter, pineapple, etc.) and other raw materials, where fiscal and customs measures and facilities for settling up administrative procedures, infrastructure and services are put in place to attract investors.
Cognizance must be taken that the Industrial Zones in other African countries have contributed immensely to booming their economies through massive job creation, payment of royalties, rolling out corporate social responsibilities, attracting more international and local investors.
The company has prior committed itself to spending a further $476 million in extending the current railway and port at Pepel.
Arise Authorities revealed that they want to achieve major goals in the next twenty-four months in Sierra Leone, which are to develop and manage the rail and port; to launch an industrial zone for which the land has already been identified; and to run passenger trains linking the whole country and neighboring Guinea and Liberia.
The company has already put in place $85 million to kick-start the process of achieving its targeted objectives in Sierra Leone.
As a high profiled company, it is capable of bringing in major reputable and credible companies from across the globe to operate in the Industrial Zone in areas like textile, tile, processing agricultural raw materials, etc.
“The Industrial Zone will provide electricity, water supply, health, and other basic amenities to investors working within the zone,” it was revealed.
It must be reiterated that the company is also set to handle the rail and port that will provide services to mining companies, other investors that will be transporting their raw materials and finished products, etc.
Taking journalists from Sierra Leone to see firsthand how Arise IIP operates in Benin and Gabon it was learnt that the company established a successful partnership with the Government of Gabon to establish the Gabon Special Economic Zone (GSEZ), which idea came after a moratorium on timber logging and export was enforced in 2009.
The zone was later established in 2012 exclusively to process timber logs in Gabon and refined them into different products for export. It was later on opened to other economic investments, for which the Government of Gabon now owns 32% shares whilst Arise IIP has 68%.
The Gabon Economic Zone has three major components, the Commercial Zone, the Residential Zone, and the Industrial Zone. The Administrative Zone is a single window manned by 23 administrations, such as tax, customs, immigration, employment, forestry, environment protection, etc.
There are 82 industrial companies within the Economic Zone, 65 of which are concentrating on timber processing. It has so far provided jobs for 60, 000 Gabonese whose country’s population is just 2.4 million.
The Gabon Special Economic Zone (GSEZ) Ikolo ZIS is a joint venture, signed in June 2021, between the GSEZ and the Government of Gabon. Owing to its single window clearance system, national and international investors can set up businesses with ease. The zone’s composition includes industrial, infrastructural, and residential spaces, along with multiple quays.
The Ikolo Special Economic Zone benefits from its strategic location, accessible by both land and river, and its proximity to the forests of the region and neighboring provinces.
Covered 85% by forest, on 22 million hectares, Gabon has a stock of exploitable wood of 130 million m3 of Okoumé and 270 million m3 of other species. GSEZ has enabled the country to develop and modernize a wood sector that was previously not very promising by relying on specialization, one-stop services, and alignment with the national development strategy.
With 3.4 million m3 produced each year Gabon has become Africa’s leading producer and exporter of tropical plywood, and the world’s second-largest exporter.
The country intends to go further in adding value to its wood products by transforming GSEZ into a center for the manufacture of “Made in Gabon” furniture.
In Benin the company’s investment is huge providing job opportunities for many as well as resources for the Government.
