๐๐๐ฎ๐ฃ๐, ๐๐ข๐ ๐๐ซ๐ข๐, 9 ๐๐จ๐ฏ๐๐ฆ๐๐๐ซ 2025- His Excellency Dr. Julius Maada Bio, President of the Republic of Sierra Leone and Chairman of the ECOWAS Authority, has called for deeper economic collaboration and investment between Sierra Leone and Nigeria, emphasizing that the future of West Africa lies in shared prosperity, integration, and private-sector-driven growth.
Speaking at a high-level business dinner themed โStrengthening Partnerships for Sustainable Growth and Investment in Sierra Leone and West Africa,โ President Bio underscored Sierra Leoneโs emergence as a stable and ambitious investment destination in the sub-region.
โNigeria and Sierra Leone share more than borders; we share dreams, dreams of a West Africa that trades with itself, feeds itself, and builds its own prosperity,โ he said, addressing top government officials, diplomats, corporate leaders, and investors.
President Bio highlighted Sierra Leoneโs economic reforms and the governmentโs commitment to making the country competitive for investment. He noted that Sierra Leone has averaged 4.1% GDP growth over the past three years and is advancing national transformation through the โBig Five Game Changersโ, prioritizing food security, human capital development, youth employment, technology and infrastructure, and public service reform.
He outlined reforms that have improved the business climate, including 24-hour company registration, a five-day turnaround for work permits, duty waivers and tax holidays for strategic investments, one of the lowest corporate tax rates in West Africa, digitised customs and tax systems that have cut clearance times by half, and a more than 40% rise in foreign direct investment in the last two years. โEvery reform we undertake is designed to make investment in Sierra Leone seamless, predictable, and profitable,โ he assured.
President Bio positioned Sierra Leone as a strategic gateway for regional and global trade, noting its location as an Atlantic entry point to West Africa and its direct access to over 400 million consumers through ECOWAS trade protocols. โSierra Leone is your bridge between Lagos and the Atlantic, the next logistics hub in West Africa,โ he said, highlighting the natural deep-water port in Freetown and proximity to major African and global trade routes.
President Bio encouraged investors to explore growing sectors such as agriculture and agro-processing, renewable energy, oil and gas, tourism and hospitality, infrastructure and logistics, and financial services and fintech. He assured investors of full government support, stating: โAs President, I guarantee that your investment will be protected, your partnerships respected, and your profits assured.โ
As Chair of ECOWAS, President Bio reaffirmed that regional integration remains central to West Africaโs economic advancement and said his administration is working with regional institutions to harmonise policies, expand trade, and improve connectivity.
โThe time has come for West Africa to move from potential to performance, from resources to refinement, and from aid to trade,โ he declared. He pledged to facilitate investor missions and site visits within 30 days to accelerate partnership opportunities.
President Bio concluded by urging collective commitment to shared development. โLet us build the bridges our ancestors dreamed of, bridges of trade, of trust, and of triumph, so that history will say this was when West Africa began to rise together.โ
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