By Amin Kef (Ranger)
In response to recent inaccuracies reported by Africa Confidential regarding the Institute of Public Administration and Management (IPAM) Bureh Campus project, Femab Properties Limited has issued a detailed rebuttal to set the record straight.
The contract for the Bureh Campus project, signed on August 2, 2018, was the result of extensive discussions between IPAM/USL and Femab Properties Ltd, with the Sierra Leone government as witness. The agreement, approved by Cabinet and Parliament, outlines a $50 million construction project, with Femab financing the majority.
Key conditions for the contract included an upfront payment of $12.5 million from IPAM and a Sovereign Guarantee from the government to cover the remaining $37 million. Despite progress, the project faced delays primarily due to the government’s failure to provide the required Sovereign Guarantee, hindering Femab’s ability to secure necessary funds.
Construction work officially began on January 24, 2019, following a sod-turning ceremony. Initial work included site preparation and mobilization, with Femab investing significantly in preliminary tasks and materials. Reports and site visits have confirmed that substantial preparatory work was completed, despite the slow pace due to financing issues.
Femab’s efforts, including securing international funding and advancing project preparations, underscore its commitment to the project. Recent meetings and reports have outlined plans to resume construction through a phased approach, which will continue to rely heavily on Femab’s financing.
The rebuttal criticizes Africa Confidential for neglecting ongoing high-level discussions and providing a misleading portrayal of the project’s status. Femab emphasizes that the project remains active and that issues causing delays have been addressed, reaffirming its dedication to the successful completion of the Bureh Campus project.
The IPAM Bureh Town Campus project is expected to offer significant benefits, including improved educational facilities, job creation, and economic growth for Sierra Leone.
Read the complete response below.
IPAM Bureh Campus Project And Femab (SL) Limited:
FACTS OF THE MATTER:
A REJOINDER TO AFRICA CONFIDENTIAL ERRONEOUS INSINUATIONS AND DELIBERATE MISINTERPRETATIONS
Our attention has been drawn to the above publication by an online rag that calls itself Afica Confidential on the on-going Institute of Public of Administration and Management residential campus in Bureh Town, Sierra Leone, we would like to put the records straight and disabuse the mind of the public from the deliberate misinterpretations and malicious misconceptions of the publication.
Following series of engagements between IPAM/USL and Femab Properties Ltd, a contract was eventually signed between the two parties witnessed by the government of Sierra Leone on Thursday 2, August 2018 at State House, for the construction of the University’s entire university campus and its ancillary facilities on the terms stated in the contract. The signing came after the proposal was discussed and approved by Cabinet and later ratified by Parliament.
The contract was to be jointly financed by both IPAM/USL and FEMAB with Femab providing the lion share of the Finance.
The Contract stipulates two main conditions precedent:
i. IPAM should make an upfront payment of equivalent to 25% (US$ 12,5 million) of the contract amount of US$50million
ii. The Government of Sierra Leone should provide a Sovereign Guarantee covering the remaining 75% (US$ 37million) of the Contract amount to Femab to enable the company secure a loan of the same amount.
Following the conclusion of all discussion, agreements and preliminary activity necessary in Contracts of this nature, on 24th January 2019, the sod was turned by Ministers from relevant Government Ministries for the commencement of Construction work after all due diligence work had been completed and after all Architectural, Engineering and Electrical Designs have been properly scrutinized and approved. Furthermore, the IPAM Bureh Town Campus Contract was managed through well-defined and financial control mechanisms monitored by the Ministry of Finance.
IPAM/USL through a loan facility obtained from the UNITED Bank for Africa (UBA), and internally generated revenue transferred funds equivalent to US$ 4.5 million (7% of total Project Cost) to Femab. With that, mobilization to site commenced with the topographic survey, a comprehensive soil test, detailed planning, designs and drawings of the Bureh Town Residential Campus.
However, progress has been slow if not stalled mainly due to the inability to meet condition (ii) above – a Sovereign Guarantee to be provided by the Ministry of Finance to enable Femab obtain their part of the funds required to commence full-fledged construction.
In the meantime, the University set up a Special Committee to look into the activities relating to the FEMAB/IPAM Bureh Town Campus Development Project and advise the Vice-Chancellor on where the project was, the progress made so far and Challenges encountered and the way forward. The Committee he reported, had met before and had even conducted a site visit to Bureh Town where they discovered that mobilization had actually started, but work seemed to have stalled.
On another front, the Directorate of Office of the President’s Infrastructure Initiative (OPII)visited the site and subsequently wrote a report recommending that a number of issues be looked into including the Project Contract Amount and changing the financing model from one which required a Sovereign Guarantee to a Build, Operate & Transfer (BOT) model relying on IPAM’s cash flow.
Other reports confirmed that Femab had actually moved to site and commenced work. All materials procured for the construction were visible on site, machinery and equipment for site clearing, excavation of foundations, and molding of blocks (with the huge number of building blocks that had been molded) were observed on the ground, storehouses constructed and stacked with tons of cement, tons of reinforcement, were also on the ground in addition to mountains of sand and granite. Sites that were excavated for the commencement of the substructure for the hostels would still be visible on close inspection even today.
Moreover, FEMAB at great financial cost running into Millions of Dollars (USD), embarked on the following:
(i) Employment and payment of consultants, independent professionals and specialized staff to provide preliminary consultancy and preparatory work for the project.
(iii). Funding delegation visits of International Finance from United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom, and U.S.A. to Sierra Leone for the purpose of physically verifying and appraising and project.
(v) Entering into sub-contracts and mobilization of sub-contractors towards the execution of the project.
(vi) Procurement of and payment for Building and Finishing materials for the project in order to avoid future price fluctuations.
(vii) Deposit on Purchase of heavy-duty equipment required for the execution of various aspects of the project.
You will no doubt agree that based on all the assurances, approvals and document passed on to us in this transaction as well as our unflinching desire to deliver on the project, we for five (5) years deployed huge financial resources, time, corporate goodwill and opportunity cost in meeting our part of the contract and complying with various requests regarding the project including repeated requests for us to commences operations.
As a result of the Ministry of Finance’s inability to provide the Sovereign Guarantee s required, Femab has been visiting regularly to follow up on the restraining factors affecting the progress of the project, suggesting other financing options that also required government commitment to the project. Femab also made a report informing us of how the funds received were spent. A lot of background pre-mobilization work of designs, drawings, procurement of equipment and other materials, insurance and others had to be done before physical work on the ground could commence. This is in addition to all the machinery, equipment and materials mentioned above. Femab even went further to obtain an Advance Payment Guarantee (APG) for the guarantee of the initial payment by IPAM which cost a lot of money, to demonstrate its transparency and forthrightness in the transaction. All the above are efforts requiring spending, in sharp contrast to Africa Confidential’s erroneous insinuation that there was nothing to show for the money paid to Femab.
Africa Confidential has deliberately neglected the fact that this is an ongoing project, which has not been terminated or ended. It has failed to use the evidence provided and submitted to them about ongoing high-level meetings between IPAM, USL & FEMAB in 2022, 2023 & 2024.
IPAM made a request to the Ministry of Works to verify the documents presented by Femab as a measure to ensure transparency and fairness in our due process and there was no indictment whatsoever against Femab.
In Femab’s quest to ensure the continuation of the project, Femab in a letter dated 20th February 2021 addressed to the Financial Secretary, Ministry of Finance, indicated that they have obtained evidence of proof of funds for their counterpart funding of the Project.
The facility could accommodate alternative repayment option (s) of a payment guarantee backed by the Ministry of Finance and an acceptable cash flow projection of IPAM, USL and other comforts as may be required by the Ministry of Finance.
The IPAM Bureh Town Campus Project had taken off with all the Legal and Financial aspects concluded, sod turned on the site and mobilization started. However, the implementation by way of excavation and commencement of construction took off as evidenced by what is visible on site even now. It slowed down mainly because the Sovereign Guarantee requested for by Femab could not be obtained from the Ministry of Finance. No foreign investor will plug its finances in projects where its investment cannot be recouped.
To confirm the assertion that the project is on-going, various high powered deliberations between IPAM officials and Femab have been held from 2023 to now, the recent being in this month of August, where it was concluded that the scope of the project be divided into phases and each phase be handled as turn-key projects that can be started, concluded and operated viably independent of other phases.
We are of the opinion that blogs like Africa Confidential should engage in thorough investigative journalism and reportage. Our side of the story as expressed in the interview between our Corporate Communications representative and AC’s Josef Skrdlik before this publication during which our representative debunked all his misinterpretations was never reflected in his write up, and this smacks of a hatchet man’s job lacking professionalism and tinted with underlying, deliberate attempt to portray Femab and IPAM officials in bad light as this is common practice among brown envelope journalists.
It is clearly obvious that Josef is doing a paid job for those who have been jostling with Femab for the project from the very beginning.
They forgot that the idea of the IPAM Bureh Campus Project was conceptualized by Femab and ALL efforts to make the project see the light of day was bank rolled by Femab, only for some Ministry officials to want to use their position to wrest the project from Femab at the last minute. The fact that Femab eventually consummated the transaction got them infuriated to the point of wanting to sabotage the project at all costs.
Trying to connect Femab with Milost is the worst attempt to forcefully marry us with someone else’s misadventure. Milost was in Nigeria in 2017 to secure investment relationships with reputable companies in the country. We were among the companies it came to. A proper check on Milost by our contacts revealed that Milost style was far from what it portrayed itself to be, and we immediately discussion with it.
However, we are pleased to announce that the issues that delayed the project have been resolved, and the project will resume very soon.
The IPAM Bureh Town Campus project will bring numerous benefits to Sierra Leone, including:
– Enhanced educational facilities for students, providing a conducive learning environment
– Increased access to higher education, reducing the gap in educational opportunities
– Economic growth and job creation, stimulating local economic development
– Improved infrastructure development, contributing to the country’s growth
– Enhanced reputation for the University of Sierra Leone, attracting international students and scholars.
Femab still demonstrates its commitment to the success of the IPAM Bureh Town Campus in this phased strategy as the bulk of the Finance of the project is still being borne by Femab.
