Vol 52 No 13 | SIERRA LEONEMINING Feast ore famine 24th June 2011 The Tonkolili iron-ore mine looks set to make a billionaire of Frank Timis but the dividend for the nation is less sure Sierra Leone will start earning hundreds of millions of dollars from taxes when iron-ore production begins in November. At least that is what the controversial British-based mining entrepreneur...
Vol 52 No 10 | SIERRA LEONE Not so golden jubilee 13th May 2011 Freetown’s independence celebrations said much about the parlous state of the country and looming difficulties for the government When Sierra Leone gained Independence from Britain in 1961, the event was so peaceful that one foreign observer described it as ‘independence without pain’. On 27 April this...
Vol 4 (AAC) No 9 | SIERRA LEONECHINA Not so fast, Frank 13th July 2011 Businessman Vasile Frank Timis, the Chairman of African Minerals Limited (AML), has signed a memorandum of understanding with Chinese partners to develop a project that has already...
Vol 51 No 25 | SIERRA LEONEMINING Iron constitutions required 17th December 2010 A Chinese-British consortium exploiting massive iron ore reserves at Tonkolili prompts opposition from villagers and anti-corruption campaigners One of the wealthiest and most controversial businessmen in Britain, Vasile Frank Timis, has brought over $300 million of Chinese finance to Sierra Leone’s Tonkolili district to exploit what...
Vol 51 No 10 | SIERRA LEONE Anti-corruption chief quits 14th May 2010 The resignation on 7 May of Abdul Tejan-Cole as Commissioner and Chief Prosecutor of Sierra Leone’s Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) signals a growing malaise in the government of President...
Vol 51 No 6 | SIERRA LEONE Kabba on trial 19th March 2010 The energetic Director of the Anti-Corruption Commission, Abdul Tejan-Cole, is scoring some success, with the suspension of the third minister in President Ernest Bai Koroma’s government on charges...
Vol 50 No 23 | SIERRA LEONE President Koroma pledges 'We no go tire' 20th November 2009 The country wants investment and, with a little help from his friend Tony Blair, President Koroma embarks upon a fund-raising mission in Britain In the run-up to a fund-raising conference in London on 18 November, President Ernest Bai Koroma was pushing legal and business reforms, and making an example of corrupt...
Vol 50 No 23 | SIERRA LEONE From cowboys to corporates 20th November 2009 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...
Vol 50 No 20 | SIERRA LEONE More power for Freetown 8th October 2009 Security has improved but political reforms and economic growth are moving too slowly to win much support for President Bai Koroma's government Two years into his presidency, Ernest Bai Koroma of the All People's Congress (APC) can claim some successes. The Bumbuna hydroelectric dam will soon supply the capital, Freetown,...
Vol 50 No 20 | SIERRA LEONE A renewed army, an old-style police 8th October 2009 Britain has spent millions helping to create Sierra Leone's security apparatus from scratch. The army and police protected the elections in 2007 and triumphed over smugglers in July...