By Foday Moriba Conteh
Last week, the Freetown City Council (FCC) made significant progress in the project preparation stage of the Freetown Cable Car project through the completion of a due diligence mission by the C40 Cities Finance Facility (CFF) team.
The FCC had previously applied for technical support from the CFF to get the Freetown Cable Car Project ready for financing and to link it to the most suitable financing solutions.
Freetown crossed a critical milestone when it became one of fifteen shortlisted projects (out of over 60 applications of ambitious project proposals from cities around the world) approved for due diligence to make an informed decision on the Cable Car project’s viability for CFF support.
Last week, the team from the CFF completed the due diligence mission, which consisted of a review of all relevant project documents, site visits, risk assessments and the gathering of more background and contextual information through wider stakeholder engagements that build on the pre-feasibility study that was undertaken by FCC over the past two years.
Stakeholders engaged during the mission included the Mayor, councilors and staff of FCC, the Minister of Western Area Region, representatives from the Ministry of Transport, the Ministry of Lands, Housing and Country Planning, the Ministry of Finance and from the Environment Protection Agency.
The team from the CFF due diligence mission was convinced of the strategic, economic and environmental benefits of the cable car as a mass transit solution for Freetown and are optimistic that FCC stand a good chance to secure the additional support necessary to complete project preparation and get the Freetown Cable Project ready for financing.
This further project preparation work will include more detailed feasibility, environmental and social impact assessment studies of the project and will provide critical support for securing financing for the implementation of the pilot route from the CBD to Kissy Ferry Junction.
The Freetown Cable Car Project presents a real opportunity to revive the economy of the city of Freetown by creating a reliable, clean and efficient mass transit system to serve the city’s residents and businesses. This project will also address climate change through carbon emission reduction and provide significant improvements in transport safety and air quality for the residents of the city.
