US Embassy Brings Nelly’s Echo Band on Cultural Visit

February 24, 2020

By Foday Moriba Conteh

The United States Embassy in Sierra Leone on February 21, 2020 informed of the coming of a US-based Baltimore musical group known as Nelly’s Echo to be here in the first week of March, as a part of a cultural exchange program sponsored by the U.S. Embassy through the U.S. Department of State.

According to a release, Nelly’s Echo was selected through American Music Abroad (AMA) program to foster cross-cultural communications between American artists and global audiences. The band is currently touring the West African country of Cameroon and will be heading to Sierra Leone next.

According to the release, while in Sierra Leone, the band will work in collaboration with the Public Affairs Section of the U.S. Embassy and Ballanta Academy of Music, to train 20 young people in musical composition and performance.

The climax of the visit according to the release will be a music performance for the public on Friday, March 6. Nelly’s Echo’s captivating storytelling and high energy performances have made them a sought-after act across the United States and overseas.

Their founder, Nelson aka Nelly was a contestant on season 3 of NBC’s The Voice where he made it into Team Christina Aguilera. He has shared stages with artists such as Trombone Shorty, Travis McCoy, Sean Kingston, & Boyz II Men.

A native of Nigeria, Nelly is now based in Baltimore, Maryland. American Music Abroad (AMA) is a cultural diplomacy program that brings together American musicians with global audiences.

AMA is sponsored by the U.S. Department of State with funding provided by the U.S. Government and administered by American Voices. Each year AMA selects approximately 10 ensembles to embark on overseas tours. While on these tours, musicians participate in concerts, workshops, educational programs and more.

US Public Affairs Officer, Robert Revere noted, that “this will be a unique opportunity for young aspiring musicians in Salone to experience and interact with American musicians. And as with most of our exchange programs, we expect the Americans will learn equally as much from the Sierra Leoneans they will work with.”

Energy Minister Works towards Sustainable Energy for Economic Growth

February 24, 2020

By Edward Vamboi

Minister of Energy, Mr Kanja Sesay, is not the type of Minister that sleeps on his wings but one who works for the people of Sierra Leone. Because the rains which give power to Bumbuna have ceased, Mr Sesay is on the move to make sure that power supply to the whole City of Freetown, is sustained.

Mr Sesay recognizes the fact that Sustainable Energy Supply is good for Economic Growth and Human Capital Development and that is all the more reason why he is working tirelessly to make sure that the whole city has light.

Since he took over as Minister of Energy, Mr Kanja Sesay has not relented in his drive to maintain Sustainable Energy Supply.

He is currently looking at ways to employ renewable energy that will supply light to the whole city and beyond.

Leakages in the light system are being put right and soon highly efficient metering systems will be in place to both monitor the way citizens use light and to secure a maximum collection for light supplied.

Because there is no proper metering system at this stage, many people get away with leakages and thefts of light but under Mr Sesay all these will become things of the past.

Despite the fact that at this point in time in the year Bumbuna is not working at full capacity, citizens are enjoying more light at this time of the year than other years during such periods of dry season which adds to the feather of the cap of the Energy Minister, Mr Kanja Sesay.

The moves being made now by the Energy Minister to sustain energy supply in the City, are highly commendable which makes him top the Integrity Score Card above all other Ministers.

Mr Sesay is keeping up to the promise of HE President Bio that if elected he will make sure that blackouts will become things of the past.

President Bio himself will be impressed by the moves being made now by the Energy Minister which just match up to his plan for the City.

Why Integrity Score Card Rates Lands Minister Very High

February 24, 2020

By Fatmata Jengbe

It is no mean feat for any Minister in the New Direction Government of HE President Bio to be rated very high in the Integrity Score Card and for the Minister of Lands, Dr Dennis Sandy to maintain the high position of top 6 in the Score Card means he deserves his position as appointed by HE President Bio.

All successive Ministers in that Ministry agree on one thing and that is that the Lands Ministry stands out as the toughest of Ministries.

This is a Ministry where there is direct contact between the people and the Executive Arm of Government and Dr Sandy is living up to the task. The new ideas that Dr Sandy has introduced in the Ministry are highly commendable and satisfactory to citizens.

Because Land Grabbing has become a norm all over the country with many Government lands having been grabbed with impunity, Dr Sandy has come up with solutions that benefit both Government and citizens.

The Minister first recovers the land from the grabbers and then leases them out to the grabbers who pay a lease fee to government with the government raising money for the Consolidated Fund which would otherwise have gone down the drain.

This recovery and lease of Government property by the Lands Ministry under the leadership of Dr Sandy, is very popular among citizens and eases the land tensions that were plaguing this country for many years in the past.

Land encroachment was another headache for the legal system but Dr Sandy is using his down to earth approach to settle them even without the intervention of the police and the courts where land cases most times last ten years and above with many litigants dying without getting justice.

Dr Sandy, just within this short time in the Ministry of Lands has been to settle hundreds of land disputes with all sides going home very satisfied and on top of that he has raised much needed revenue for the Government.

Working according to the Millennium Goal of Land Security for citizens, Dr Sandy has been able to help a good number of citizens secure land for their respective families.

The Integrity Score Card made no mistake at all in rating Dr Sandy very high as he is a Minister that works.

Albert Academy Benefits from Orange SL Super Coders Scratch Programme

February 24, 2020

AMINATA-KANE-NDIAYE_0 — Chief Executive Officer of Orange-Sierra Leone, Aminata Kane Ndiaye

By Edward Vamboi

One of Sierra Leone’s leading mobile operators, Orange Sierra Leone in partnership with the Ministry of Basic and Senior Secondary Education and ST Foundation on Monday 21^st February 2020 unveiled the Super Coders Scratch Program at the Albert Academy on Berry Street in Freetown.

In his address, Regional Business Manager ,Orange SL, Achmed L Mansaray, who spoke on behalf of the Chief Executive Officer disclosed that the company, being a multi service provider and a responsible corporate citizen, places emphasis on corporate social investment, adding that in the last three years, Orange has invested about $ 400,000 mainly in the areas of women empowerment, health, education and the environment further maintaining that the Company remains the first operator in Sierra Leone to contribute to the Government’s Free Quality Education (FQE) Agenda by pledging the sum of $1.5m in material assistance over a period of five years.

“Orange in partnership with the Ministry of Basic and Senior Secondary Education (MBSSE), designed five projects. One of such projects is the Super Coders Scratch Program in which Orange in partnership with ST Foundation intends to introduce ICT training on basic coding for children in 100 Secondary Schools with existing ICT labs over a period of five years,” he disclosed.

He said that the implementation will be done in two phases;

First batch of 10 schools has commenced on Wednesday 19 February 2020 for the next ten days in various Government-assisted schools with ICT labs across the country.
Second phase of 15 schools will be rolled out in May 2020.

He noted that the Super Coders Scratch Project is an introductory ICT training program for children between ages 9 to 16 years pointing out that Scratch is a computer programming language. She said in Scratch, programs are made by joining together colored blocks using the Mouse. These groups of blocks (called script) tell characters on the Screen (called Sprites) what to do. Scratch is free, safe and fun to experiment with.

He stated that with Scratch, children can make their own interactive Stories, Animations, Games, Music, and Art further revealing how Scratch has large collections or libraries of cool graphics and fun sounds to play around with which enable children to solve real life social issues through coding and animation.

Achmed maintained that coding once introduced in related schools by Orange, will be included in their ICT curriculum and will be taught by the ICT tutors in each school. He reiterated how many would recall that Orange commenced the execution of its FQE project in October 2019, where the company distributed 2,000 hygiene packs to 20 schools in the Western Urban and Rural areas, conducted awareness and sensitization on menstrual hygiene and sexual reproductive health, adding that this year, Orange-SL will roll out all five projects before the end of 2020.

“As a global telecoms player operating in about 22 countries in Africa and the Middle East, Orange aims at being the leading partner in the digital transformation of all our countries of presence. In achieving this ambition, Orange has included education as one of its key pillars under its CSR policy,” he underscored.

Director of ST Foundation, Mohamed Dumbuya, delivering his statement said that the ST Foundation was established in 2009, and that the Foundation is a charity.

He admonished pupils to make good use of the given responsibility which has been provided to them and that they will continue to support them in diverse ways in subsequent programs.

He disclosed that they are very much impressed with the great improvement by pupils of the Blind School as the Foundation distributed computers to the school and said they are proud that these pupils are using computers.

He also buttressed and reiterated that the Super Coders Project is an introductory ICT training program for children between ages 9 to 16 years adding that the union, marriage or partnership they are enjoying was created by UNICEF-Sierra Leone by introducing the two parties and brought them together.

He said STF/BDD-SL has been working in providing ICT education for schools and higher learning institutions in Sierra Leone for the past 10 years and within those periods of operation over 145,000 Sierra Leoneans have benefited.

Acting Principal of the Albert Academy Senior Secondary School, Junisa Vandi expressed appreciation to Orange-SL and ST Foundation for the formal launch of the super coders scratch project which is being implemented in close partnership with Orange Sierra Leone, ST Foundation and the Ministry of Basic and Senior Secondary Education.

He said that orange being the first telecoms company to pledge its support to the Free Quality Education that was implemented by His Excellence, the President, saying that they are over whelmed that they are still making brilliant strides to make the vision of the president be actualized, leading the progress of the future of this country.

He acknowledges the project that was designed to increase the knowledge base of their pupils in computer literacy, adding that the venture was in line with the schools aim of equipping their pupils with skills and academic successes required to compete with other students both nationally and intentionally in the job market, and that was why they “Rather to be than to seem”.

“As orange has recognized the importance of education for sustainability development and subsequently included it as one of their key pillars under corporate social responsibility investment, he humbly ask on behalf of the school administration to come in strongly for the pavement of the school grounds so that the computers provided will be dust free”, he lamented.

As he Launches 18M Euros Grants to 15 Entities… VP Calls for More Investments in the Agric. Sector

February 24, 2020

By Aaron Bundu Lahai

Dr Juldeh Jalloh, Vice President of Sierra Leone has lamented that Sierra Leone spends about four hundred million United States Dollars to import food into the country, adding that over two hundred million United States Dollars is spent on rice importation alone out of the four hundred million United States Dollars.
The Vice President was speaking on Thursday 20th February, 2020 during the launch of 18 million Euros grant contracts to fifteen entities to boost agriculture and food security in Sierra Leone.

In his keynote address, Vice President Jalloh described the event as an important milestone in the New Direction Government drive for economic diversification; and recalled President Julius Maada Bio’s citing agriculture as a priority of his Government.
Dr. Jalloh further stated three reasons/objectives for Government to prioritize agriculture; which are: food self-sufficiency, support to value chain and employment.
He enlightened the attendees on the Government of Sierra Leone’s commitment to boost agriculture and focus on reducing dependency on food importation with the favorable climatic condition the country has added to abundant rain and water.

The Vice President highlighted support to value chain and encouraged small scale industry owners to grow food with the aim of producing local foods like tomatoes, pineapple sufficient enough to meet the domestic market. He referred to agricultural employment as the third objective of Government’s priority, and described agriculture as the future of job creation. He maintained that agriculture will not only provide jobs for people to become farmers, but would develop the agricultural sector, expand the value chain and expand on food production and processing.

“The Grant to boost agriculture and food security project fits directly into the three overriding objectives. Because it is expected that the Grantis work in the area of food self-sufficiency, expand the value chain and make agriculture a job creation entity,” Dr. Jalloh told the listeners. He encouraged the Grantis to deliver on the intended objectives and result, coordinate with other sectors in the agricultural family with clear ideas and monitor the implementation of the project. The project costs 19.3 million Euro and is funded by the European Union. He added that the grant is part of the Government of Sierra Leone (GoSL) and European Union’s Boosting Agriculture for Food Security Project (BAFS).

Also speaking in her opening remarks, as Chairman, the Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry, Fatmata Mustapha said the initiative clearly fits into their national agricultural transformation plan which has four key priority pillars. She said as a Ministry, the theme of their overall operation this year was increased production and productivity.
On his part, Tom Vens, the EU Ambassador said he is convinced that the new approach could unlock private investment and exploit significant opportunities in the agricultural sector with a specific focus on jobs for the youths. He said what was witnessed were the result of a highly competitive process, in which a total of 67 applications, 15 projects emerged. He noted that it represents the EU and Sierra Leone’s commitment to take their partnership for investment and jobs to the next level.

In his statement, the Minister of Agriculture and Forestry, Dennis Vandi said the Ministry would always provide the requisite enabling environment for the private sector and development that would seek to improve the agriculture sector. He noted that particular attention must always be given to the rural people, whose main source of livelihood depended on farming.

The program was organized at the Miatta Conference Center in Freetown.

Retired Employee Praises Stats SL for Honouring Staff

February 24, 2020

By Esther Wright

During a ceremony held on the 21^st February 2020 at Statistics Sierra Leone headquarters, Moses Williams, a retiree of Stats SL commended the Management of that institution for being the first to recognize and honour retired staff.

Williams retired from Stats SL after 27 years of service to the institution before he was appointed Chairman of the Statistics Council by President Julius Maada Bio. He informed his audience that he is delighted that under the new administration at Stats SL, the institution is taking a proactive step in taking care of its retired staff.

The ceremony was held in honour of three former staff who recently attained the mandatory retirement age of 60. It was the first time Stats SL as an institution is honouring retired staff with certificates and plaques for meritorious service to the institution.

Williams added that such send-off for retirees had never happened during his 27 years of service at Stats SL but that he is happy that the right actions are now being taken for retirees irrespective of rank, after their term of service. He thanked the Statistician General for the initiative which he termed as a novelty

In a short talk, the Deputy Statistician General, Andrew Bob Johnny who himself has worked at the institution for 25 years and counting, said he is happy that after administrations had come and gone, this administration has recognized the need to honour people who served the institution with dedication and commitment. He advised the retirees to continue doing worthy things with their post retirement lives and prayed that the almighty God keep them longer

The Statistician General, Professor Osman Sankoh (Mallam O), thanked the staff all of whom he said he used to interact with before they retired. He underscored their diligence in the execution of their duties for which he said he will forever be grateful. He added that as a leader, he values everybody no matter the rank and that was epitomized by the fact that 2 of the 3 retirees being recognized are drivers. He concluded by saying that the institution holds the retirees in high esteem and though now retired, they should not hesitate to bring to him whatever idea they think could better the institution whilst citing the Alumni Association of Stats SL, which he says will be a gathering of ex workers of Stats SL, which his management is working on forming.

In his statement, David Gbaya Kokoya, who had spent 13 years at the institution and who until his retirement was Officer In charge of the Data Science division, said he is thrilled for this recognition especially in this fashion as he never imagined that this will ever be done upon his retirement. He thanked Management for the idea which he says he will remember for the rest of his life

Margai Mansaray who had spent 17 years at Stats SL and who until his retirement was a senior driver expressed appreciation for the honour and dedicated his certificate to his lovely wife. He advised all the current drivers most of whom he had worked with, to be obedient and committed to the job which he says was a factor that made him spend that long in the institution

Alex Wurie who also had spent 17 years at the institution and who also rose to the rank of Senior Driver until his retirement said that the day will forever linger in his heart. He said they as retirees feel loved and honoured by the special recognition event and thanked the management for the brilliant initiative.

Minus The Bread & Butter Issue… Scaling Up Access To Social Services Is Central To Poverty Reduction

February 24, 2020

By Amin Kef Sesay

Apparently, new approaches have to be deployed by the Government and its development partners to ensure access for the poor and most vulnerable to basic social services considered to be critical to the country’s sustainable long term development.

Access to basic social services still remains very limited in vast swathes of the country, particularly in the remote areas where developing agriculture and other profitable economic enterprises holds the answer to stemming the one-way traffic of young energetic Sierra Leoneans into Freetown and other urban cities where they are mostly unemployed or underemployed.

Families living in poor urban and remote rural areas lack access to essential services such as water and sanitation, health services, quality education for their children, and income-generating opportunities.

Many poor Sierra Leoneans suffer from poor hygiene practices, malnutrition, and food insecurity. Many under-five children are malnourished and suffer from anemia which interferes with their normal brain development and learning. This context has perpetuated the vicious cycle of poverty since the 1980s and has been hardly adequately addressed by successive Governments.

However, the scarcity of financial resources and lack of coordination by Government with other development partners including the banks has left non-state actors, such as NGOs and faith-based organizations, as the sole providers of essential social services in most of the country; with the fact that social interventions are fragmented, underfunded, and uncoordinated, limiting real impact on the poor.

Security, access to affordable quality education, health services, housing, transportation, electricity, water; these are the essential gods and services that Governments provide to their citizens and residents on a daily sustainable basis that make the big difference between what we call the developed world and developing countries like Sierra Leone.

These are the things that the majority of poor Sierra Leoneans that cannot easily afford and access the above, look up to President Bio and his New Direction Government to be working on 24-7, 365 until they become universally available.

However, given the present state of the economy, with per capita incomes hardly above $500 per head for the vast majority of especially those that are unemployed, a lot more has to be done on the economic front in terms of diversification so that more jobs, personal and tax incomes can be generated as quickly as possible as there is no quick-fix to the problem; especially when you throw in the most elemental of them – JJ Saffa’s beard and butter issue.

In Haiti, which is many times poorer than Sierra Leone, the World Bank Group introduced a development initiative called the Kore Fanmi Initiative that can be replicated here by the Ministry of Economic Development working in partnership with the Ministries of Rural Development, Local Councils and Paramount Chiefs, Education, Health, Social Welfare, etc, to facilitate the coordinated and decentralized delivery of social services through community agents in poor, rural areas.

In particular, IDA financing is scaling up this model of increasing access to basic services by vulnerable families to three of the poorest regions to break the vicious cycle of poverty.

This approach aims to improve access and efficiency of social service delivery in rural areas of Haiti by providing:

Family coaching using multi-sectoral community agents to work directly with families, providing basic services, including behavior change counseling, nutrition supplements, and vaccinations, and linking families to existing services.

A tailored family development plan, created based on a socio-economic survey that captures a family’s particular vulnerability is another area they are working on.

A dynamic and integrated information management system, which analyzes each individual family’s conditions and vulnerabilities, proposes key actions to be undertaken, and tracks progress over time. An “Opportunity Map,” an inventory of services available to the population through various service providers in the target area, which is used for referral.

The Haitian Kore Fanmi Initiative seeks to lay the foundation for a cost-effective and sustainable social protection operational strategy by providing a common platform to coordinate social interventions by all service providers at the local level.

Initial results for one of the three communes: Over 3,000 vaccinations to children under 5; more than 30,000 people participated in community meetings or received home visits by community agents; and over 800 life-saving commodities such as soap, water treatment, oral rehydration salts, micro-nutrients, and mosquito nets have been distributed to poor and vulnerable families.

The same can be done for Sierra Leone if the Government is serious about reducing poverty.

NP is Indeed a True Pacesetter

February 24, 2020

By Amin Kef Sesay

The selfless commitment of the original 37 shareholders of the National Petroleum Sierra Leone (NP-SL) to ensure that their efforts should not go in vain but rather turn out to be very successful has been identified as a cardinal contributory factor that drove the initiatives and policies of an indigenously-owned petroleum company to become a towering business entity not only in Sierra Leone but within the West African sub-region.

Talking about strict adherence and effective implementation of the Local Content Policy, NP-SL stands tall as it is truly the only truly 100% indigenous owned company that employs almost 100% Sierra Leoneans as employees. It has been established that with the proper implementation of the Local Content Policy economic empowerment is assured of individuals and the State.

It is important to note that under the current Local Content Act, industrial, manufacturing, mining, petroleum, services (legal, financial and insurance), agriculture and agro-business, transportation (road, maritime and aviation), hotel and tourism, public work/construction, energy and health have been identified as key areas covered by the Act to enhance sustainable socio-economic growth. Investors are supposed to be employing Sierra Leoneans in managerial and lower level positions as required by the Act thereby increasing job opportunities in the country.

NP-SL, by giving preference to employing Sierra Leoneans, is a clear indication of a company that is utilizing local talents thus making it possible for indigenes to acquire useful knowledge and skills through training courses that could be applicable in other places.

Furthermore, it has been discovered that the synergy that runs through management, staff and board members of the National Petroleum Sierra Leone (NP-SL) company is another major reason why the company is contributing greatly to improving the lives of its workers and their dependents and also contributing to the company’s growth and the socio-economic development of the country at large.

The National Petroleum- Sierra Leone (NP-SL) is on record for having capable and competent managerial teams of Sierra Leoneans at the helm of affairs, who from time to time come up with smart initiatives, always ensuring that those initiatives are effectively and efficiently implemented to derive value for money.

It is also anchored that the National Petroleum (NP) Sierra Leone Limited, apart from it being lauded for being one of Sierra Leone’s biggest tax payers, is also being commended for its invaluable contributions towards building the country’s economy.

Besides having filling stations in various parts of the country, NP-SL is also vibrantly operating in Guinea, Liberia, Ivory Coast and The Gambia. In all the aforementioned countries the company is indeed doing tremendously well to the utmost satisfaction of many who continue to benefit from NP-SL products and services.

This company has so far offered various jobs to workers in the afore-mentioned countries, thereby reducing the levels of poverty to a considerable level in those countries.

Since its establishment, the company has grown from leaps and bounds; weathering storms that would have run it down. However, the dogged resolve of its shareholders and successive management teams having the zeal to succeed at all cost under any strain has been the driving force propelling NP to higher levels thus making it very competitive in the sub-region.

Asking those who really know NP, the feedback you get indicate that one of its prime commitment is that which has to do with customer care which NP strongly believes must be prioritized to give optimal satisfaction.

It has maintained a good business relationship with its numerous customers right across the sub-region where it exists and operates with most consumers honestly confessing that they are always delighted in dealing with NP.

The company deals with individuals and various sectors of society, always ensuring that its various petroleum products are available and are sold at affordable prices. This keen mutual relationship with its customers has been paying huge dividends, always resulting in a win-win situation, making NP very endearing to all and sundry and envy to its competitors.

The regulatory institution of the different petroleum companies in the country, the Petroleum Directorate, has also lauded NP in recent times for its efficient service delivery in its areas of operation and for its committed adherence to the country’s business laws.

The company is also known for offering Sierra Leoneans affordable NP Gas Cookers of various sizes, which are safe and very friendly to use. NP Gas could be purchased at all their filling stations across the country and the very gas used to refill them is also sold to replenish depleted stocks.

The company’s result-oriented management team is definitely and sustainably continuing to put NP at the top and conspicuously on the map of the West Africa sub-region..

It is doing exceptionally well in all the countries it is functioning and indeed there are prospects for further expansion.

It can therefore be justifiably stated that the National Petroleum Limited is the country’s reliable fuel provider as it always ensures that its stockpile of petroleum products is always at an appreciable level to last over time.

NP has received numerous awards; the latest being: “Best Company of the Year” that was received on 6th July 2019 during the National Business Award 2018/2019 held at the prestigious Bintumani Hotel.

Various tests to determine quality and standard indicate that consumers of National Petroleum-SL products say they have never had cause to grumble about the company’s products.

It should be reiterated that customer care is one key element for the success of the National Petroleum Sierra Leone (NP-SL).
Another most important feature of NP-SL is its smart cards which customers can use to make transactions very easily and conveniently.

It has been widely acknowledged that NP SL has been very business savvy over the years amidst foreseeable and unforeseeable challenges, doing so diligently and professionally to continue to be a very progressive company that will stand the test of time as it continues to serve humanity. .

Gola Forest to be Managed by Sierra Leone & Liberia

February 21, 2020

By Amin Kef Sesay

It has been agreed that the Gola National Park, which is home to several endangered species, is expected to be jointly managed by the Governments of Liberia and Sierra Leone in a bid to vigorously fend off encroachment and protect its biodiversity.

The management agreement, which is an amended Memorandum of Understanding, will obligate both parties to jointly share the management of the forest, including the protection of biodiversity and all others related to conservation.

According to a release from the Forestry Development Authority (FDA), the signing ceremony of the amended MOU took place at the C. Cecil Dennis Hall at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs on February 18, 2020.

“The amended MOU signing represents a renewed commitment of both countries to effectively manage the Gola Forest Transboundary Landscape which will be named Gola Transboundary Peace Park,” the release said.

Gola National Forest, which covers 150,000 hectares of land from Liberia to Sierra Leone, represents one of the largest remaining blocks of the Upper Guinea Forest, the release indicated.

However, when adjacent smaller forests lands are considered, including community forests and the proposed Foya Nature Reserve in Liberia, this massive forest landscape measures over 350,000 hectares, equivalent to about a half-million football fields.

Besides, its landscape, the forest is a recognized biodiversity hotspot–and home to more than 899 vascular plants, 49 mammals, 327 bird species, and 43 amphibians.

“Many of the forest wildlife and plants are threatened or critically endangered, including rosewood, the forest elephant, the West African chimpanzee, western red colobus monkey, and pygmy hippopotamus,” the release said. “The forest hosts many of the territorial Mano River Union states watersheds and plays a critical function through the range of ecosystem services that it provides and contributes to the mitigation of climate change impacts. Thus, its health is of global importance.”

The signing of the amended MOU comes at a time when illicit miners, especially Sierra Leoneans, have invaded the forest from Liberia end and extracting gold and diamonds, and smuggling them across the border to Sierra Leone.

Some illicit miners stand near of the equipment use to extract mineral like gold from the forest.

According to Residents of Porkpa District, Grand Cape Mount County, illicit miners have encroached on the protected forest, digging huge pits and felling trees. Such acts violate Liberia’s mineral and mining law, wildlife Law and undermine the intent of park creation, which is to protect Liberia’s rich biodiversity.

Although the park should be protected by forest rangers from the FDA, they are outnumbered by the illicit miners and lack weapons for patrol. The forest, which is home to an estimated 500 illicit miners, has only 29 forest rangers for the park security, a task, which is not easy to maintain, given their numbers.

“The forest is big. We have car and motorbike, but we usually patrol the forest on foot since there is no road,” concedes Sam Gaye, one of seven rangers stationed on the Cape Mount side of the park.

The MOU signing comes 9 years after the previous Presidents of Liberia and Sierra Leone signed an MOU on cooperation in the management, research, protection, and conservation of the Greater Gola Transboundary Peace Park.

In doing so, the two presidents noted their “mutual interest in continuing and strengthening joint management and conservation of national parks close to or contiguous with the border to conserve shared resources and ecosystems.”

In 2018, West Africa Biodiversity and Climate Change (WA BiCC) supported a meeting of technical representatives to lay the groundwork for the first meeting of the planning and Coordination Committee, including the development of a draft work plan.

“FDA is grateful to the USAID-funded WA BiCC program which supported several transboundary multi-stakeholder meetings in advance of the MOU signing. Through signing the amendments, Liberia and Sierra Leone will refocus their efforts on preserving and sustainably managing their shared resource.

“Together, they will seek to curtail the main drivers of the forest’s continued deforestation and degradation and biodiversity loss, including illegal hunting and poaching, mining, chainsaw logging, shifting cultivation/agricultural encroachment, and water pollution,” the release added.

Iluka Suspends Operation at Sierra Rutile

February 21, 2020

By Theresa Kef Sesay

Mineral sands miner Iluka has temporarily suspended operations at its Sierra Rutile operation, in Sierra Leone, following a community disruption overnight. The company said that the disruption is expected to be resolved shortly, with operations to resume over the coming days.

The temporary suspension of the Sierra Rutile operation comes as Iluka reported a net loss after tax of A$300-million for the full 2019, down from a net profit after tax of A$304-million in the previous financial year, on the back of a A$414-million write-down on the Sierra Rutile asset, and the removal of a A$162-million deferred tax asset.

Iluka MD Tom O’Leary said the write-down of the Sierra Rutile asset was “disappointing”, but he added the company was confident it would generate returns from the asset as Iluka continued to advance the Sembehun project options and the development options for the high quality deposits.

Mineral sands revenue for the full year ended December was down 4.1% on the previous financial year, from A$1.2-billion to A$1.1-billion, while mineral sands earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (Ebitda) were down 2.5%, from A$544.5-million to A$530.9-million.

Underlying group Ebitda was up 2.6%, from A$600.1-million to A$616-million.

O’Leary said that the decline in mineral sands revenue for the full year reflected the mixed market conditions, with a 17% increase in revenue per tonne partially offsetting the 18% decline in zircon, rutile, and synthetic rutile sales volumes.

“Market conditions were mixed in 2019. Subdued business sentiment, emanating from persistent trade and other geopolitical tensions, weighed on the zircon market particularly. The flexible approach in Iluka’s market strategy, however, enabled us to meet revised guidance.

“Conditions in the high grade feedstock market were stronger and we worked closely with our high grade feedstock customers to support their requirements in the tighter feedstock market.”

O’Leary said that 2020 would see Iluka’s pipeline of the next phase of sustaining and growth projects progressed, with the company pursuing capital discipline of the quality demonstrated in the Cataby development, and would deploy capital only where and when it had sufficient confidence in achieving a satisfactory return.

Looking at a production guidance, Iluka is expected to produce 280 000 t of zircon, 230 000 t of rutile and 225 000 t of synthetic rutile in the full 2020, with the company telling shareholders that it would adjust its operational settings depending on market demand.

Meanwhile, Iluka also announced plans to demerge its Mining Area C royalty business, subject to shareholder approval.

The proposed demerger will establish an ASX-listed royalty company with the cornerstone asset being the royalty over mining major BHP’s Mining Area C iron-ore operation, which generated an Ebitda of A$85-million in 2019 and has delivered A$881-million in Ebitda since first iron-ore production from the asset in 2003.

The royalty company will have a strong growth outlook given that Mining Area C’s yearly iron-ore production is expected to more than double to 145-million tonnes by 2023, once BHP’s South Flank expansion is completed.

“The proposed demerger represents the optimal way to unlock value for shareholders by establishing two unique pure-play ASX-listed companies with separate management teams who are able to pursue independent strategies and growth opportunities,” said Iluka chairperson Greg Martin.

“The business characteristics, capital intensity and risk-return profiles of Iluka and the Royalty company differ and hence will likely appeal to different types of investors, with the proposed demerger presenting an opportunity for Iluka shareholders to determine their preferred level of exposure to each business.”

Following the demerger, Iluka would retain sufficient balance sheet flexibility to support the capital investment requirements to advance its project pipeline, and would retain a 15% interest in the royalty company, as an additional source of financial strength.

The royalty company will be headquartered in Perth and its principal activity will involve the management of the existing royalty portfolio and disciplined investment in new royalty opportunities. In seeking new royalty investments, the company will seek to invest in value accretive royalties that provide earnings growth and diversification, O’Leary said.

“The Royalty company is expected to generate attractive cash flows from the Mining Area C royalty, supporting dividends for its shareholders. Further, the Mining Area C royalty is of sufficient scale to form the cornerstone asset of a royalty investment business, a business model that has seen strong performance in overseas equity capital markets.”

Jenny Seabrook will be appointed as chairperson of the royalty company, while Julian Andrews will lead as CEO.

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