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Vol 66 No 3

Published 7th February 2025


Sierra Leone

President Bio keeps cocaine lord in the family

One of Europe’s most wanted criminals is the partner of one of the President’s daughters and has transferred his operations to Freetown. An Africa Confidential Special Report By Josef Skrdlik and Andrew Weir


Read this Special Report for free here: President Bio keeps cocaine lord in the family

 



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The President’s new partners

Just before elections, President Koroma has signed several multimillion-dollar secret contracts with a troubled Hong Kong conglomerate

China International Fund, a Hong Kong-based outfit which works closely with Beijing’s state corporations, will become one of the Freetown government’s most privileged business partners following the signing...


What did the UN COP28 Climate summit deliver for Africa?

The final communiqué at the end of the UN COP28 summit in Dubai on 13 December produced what its authors hailed as a breakthrough – it approved a roadmap for 'transitioning away from fossil fuels' | By Tim Concannon

It was a first for a UN Climate Conference. But it stopped short of what many delegates had called for – 'a phase-out' of the use of coal,...

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From cowboys to corporates

For years, cowboy outfits have churned through Sierra Leone's red dirt for diamonds and gold, but now the government is getting serious about extractive industries. Listed companies already...


Reshuffle and a long goodbye

A raft of new cabinet appointments has reignited suspicion that President Koroma may be planning to stay on beyond the end of his second term 

President Ernest Bai Koroma named 13 new ministers and deputy ministers, some of them his most devoted and hardline supporters, on 14 March in Freetown. One Freetown daily...


Groans about growth

The increasing flow of ore exports is good for foreign companies and GDP figures but government revenue from mining is low and poorly handled

Last year was not the year it was meant to be for Sierra Leone’s economy. The International Monetary Fund initially predicted growth at a staggering 51.4%. As the...