Category Archives: Sierra Leone

Sierra Leone

Bitgreen, GEAPP, and Sewa Energy Resources partner to build $110M Hydroelectric Facility in Sierra Leone

Bitgreen joins the mission by aiming to raise $10M in debt financing through its blockchain platform for the Betmai Hydroelectricity Facility backed by Sewa Energy Resources, the Rockefeller Foundation, Bezos Earth Fund, and IKEA Foundation Bitgreen, the company building blockchain’s epicenter for sustainability, partners with green infrastructure developer Sewa Energy Resources (SERL) and international climate […]

WINCH ENERGY OPENS CROWDFUNDING FOR OFF-GRID RENEWABLES

Leading off-grid renewable energy provider, Winch Energy, has opened its crowdfunding campaign to fund solar off grid developments that will connect more people in Sierra Leone and Uganda to clean and reliable power. This campaign enables individuals to invest in Africa’s growing clean energy market via Crowdcube from as little as £10. Winch Energy’s work strives to help […]

Winch Energy Launches Crowdfunding For Off-Grid Renewables

New clean energy opportunities in developing countries for UK and international investors Off-grid utilities provider, Winch Energy, is seeking to secure up to £1.5 million through a crowdfunding campaign for projects to accelerate the installation of renewable energy technology in Sierra Leone and Uganda. The Crowdcube campaign is part of an overall fundraising plan over […]

Winch Energy Closes Largest Limited Recourse Mini Grid Portfolio To Date In Uganda And Sierra Leone And Creation Of A New Platform Winch IPP Holdings For Future Investments

Winch Energy - Bafodia, Sierra Leone

Leading off-grid utilities provider, Winch Energy, has completed the funding for solar mini grid projects in 49 villages across Uganda and Sierra Leone through the creation of a new platform, Winch Energy IPP Holdings Limited (“WIPP”). The deal represents the largest mini grid financing portfolio to date, bringing together several major players in the off-grid […]

N’Gunu Tiny on Why social entrepreneurship supports local communities throughout Africa

Transformative tech and social innovation expert N’Gunu Tiny talks about how social entrepreneurship helps communities in Africa. N’Gunu Tiny, Founder and Executive Chairman of the Emerald Group, is an expert in transformative tech and social innovation. His book Impacting Lives will be published in Fall 2021. Before the pandemic, Africa was surging ahead with local and national […]

Interview with Amma Group on the development of the diamond industry in Africa

Lucara Diamond Corp. - 998 carat (CNW Group/Lucara Diamond Corp.)

Amma Group specialises in meeting the needs of ultra-high net worth individuals and institutions through a multi-faceted approach, namely Amma Asset Management – focusing on opulent coloured diamonds and precious stones with a proven track record of uncorrelated returns Amma Advisory – providing analysis and advice on creating solutions that have a positive, long-lasting impact […]

Winch Energy Ltd Celebrates Project Success In Sierra Leone

Leading off-grid utilities provider, Winch Energy, has been presented with the International Environmental Impact Award at the British Expertise International Awards 2020. Awarded in recognition of the renewable off-grid power project in Sierra Leone, the achievement acknowledges Winch Energy’s efforts to provide clean, affordable energy to over 40,000 people in the country’s Koinadugu, Bombali and […]

Winch Energy signs global distribution agreement worth over USD100m to extend solar power supply to millions

Benin

Winch Energy, leading off-grid utilities provider, has announced a new shareholder and investor, ITOCHU, a listed Japanese corporation with a network of businesses in six continents including Africa, Asia and Latin America. ITOCHU Europe PLC is a wholly-owned subsidiary of ITOCHU Corporation, a Japanese trading corporation with a considerable network of businesses in six continents including Africa, […]

This was Silicon Valley Meets Sierra Leone

8am on Friday, 1st November at the Bintumani Conference Centre. There was an immediate sense that here was a different type of event. Energetic, polished, witty and tech savvy with a clever layering of showbiz. This was the launch of the National Innovation and Digital Strategy (NIDS). Led by Dr David Moinina Sengeh, Head of […]

Building A Genuinely Competitive And Efficient Local Business Sector Should Be The Government Of Sierra Leone’s Priority. Here’s Why:

Building A Genuinely Competitive And Efficient Local Business Sector Should Be The Government Of Sierra Leone’s Priority.

In a recent article, Africa was described as the ‘last bastion of anti-competitive business practices’. At the rate that Sierra Leone is going, we will be left holding the flag. There is a very good Draft Competition Bill that has been gathering dust in the Law Officers Department for years, and we are all paying the […]

Winch Energy to Electrify 24 Villages in Sierra Leone through Solar Mini-Grids

Winch Energy to Electrify 24 Villages in Sierra Leone through Solar Mini-Grids

Once completed, the off-grid project will be one of the largest of its kind in Africa to date. Winch Energy is pleased to announce that it has signed a contract with the Ministry of Energy in Sierra Leone; to provide electricity to 24 towns and villages in northern Sierra Leone through solar mini-grids as part […]

Illicit Financial Flows are Significant and Persistent Drag on Developing Country Economies

country trade misinvoicing

Trade misinvoicing undermines the impact of international trade in developing nations A new analysis of illicit financial flows (IFFs) due to trade misinvoicing in 148 developing countries demonstrates that trade-related IFFs appear to be both significant and persistent features of developing country trade with advanced economies. As such, trade misinvoicing remains an obstacle to achieving […]

New Business Opportunities in the Growing Solar Sector in Sierra Leone

Locator map of Sierra Leone. 2012. Author UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA)

The Sierra Leone Better Business Opportunities Series is brought to you by Adam Smith International, Insight Media and Communications, the International Growth Centre SL and AYV TV. It focuses on proven and researched business opportunities in Sierra Leone and presents them in an easily accessible format. Solar is a rapidly expanding sector with plenty of […]

Which Startup receive Ecobank Africa Fintech Prize?

Ecobank

Ecobank (Ecobank.com), the leading independent pan-African banking group, has announced the finalists for the 2nd edition of the annual Ecobank Fintech Challenge, a competition for Africa-focused technology startups.  Startups: Lypa (Kenya) Wallet.ng (Nigeria) (Wallet.ng) Nala (Tanzania) Litee (Benin) SESO Global (South Africa) InvestED (Sierra Leone) Eversend (France) Secapay (Nigeria) Virtual Identity (South Africa) MojiPay (Togo) […]

Anglophone West Africa’s brightening economic prospects

Nigeria, Africa’s largest economy, is at last moving out of recession, Ghana’s growth continues to be strong The economic forecast for Anglophone West Africa is looking brighter according to analysis by Ecobank’s (www.Ecobank.com) research team in the newly published Anglophone West Africa section of its flagship financial website, AfricaFICC(goo.gl/CduKLQ). Nigeria, Africa’s largest economy, is at last […]

Commencement by H.E. The President of Sierra Leone of Solar Park Freetown (6MW) – Award Winning Project of The International Renewable Energy Agency /Abu Dhabi Fund for Development (IRENA/ADFD) International Project financing facility

Together with the Project Management and Contractor, the project total costs have also been reduced from the initial USD18 million allocation to only USD12.6 million for all project components The Government of Sierra Leone represented by the Ministry of Energy (Energy.gov.sl) is pleased to announce that Sierra Leone has undergone a number of critical steps […]

Sierra Leone Parliament Ratifies Key Bumbuna II Project Documents

This marks another important milestone in the development of the Bumbuna II hydropower project which, when completed, will provide much-needed all-year round power to Sierra Leone Following on from the Government of Sierra Leone’s signing of the 25-year Power Purchase and Implementation Agreements with Joule Africa (www.JouleAfrica.com) in August 2017, these important project documents have […]

IMF Staff Completes Review Mission to Sierra Leone

The current account deficit is expected to widen to 21.5 percent of GDP Mission and authorities reached a common understanding of the challenges and risks associated with macroeconomic performance for the rest of 2017 and have made some progress in discussions on how to address those. Discussions aimed at completing the review will continue in […]

SWIFT’s messaging traffic grows by 15.8% in West Africa

Figures released at the SWIFT Business Forum West Africa show that the region has outperformed the total growth of SWIFT globally Data from SWIFT shows that traffic growth in West Africa has outperformed the total growth of SWIFT globally. In the year to date, total traffic volumes in the West African Monetary Zone (WAMZ)[1] grew […]