IN THE STOPE
JULIUS MAADA BIO:
BUILDING BRIDGES TO
LURE INVESTORS
Edited by Leon Louw
Sierra Leone is on a major drive to develop the mining industry. In his
keynote address at the 2020 Investing in African Mining Indaba President
Julius Maada Bio told investors what the country has to offer and why they
should invest.
“Sierra Leone is an open, peaceful, and stable
democracy. We are a free market that values private
sector investment. We do not believe it is the business of
government to govern business. But we believe it is our
business as a government to strengthen the business
ecosystem and make it conducive for prime investments.
“We have therefore thoughtfully mapped out our ecosystem
interventions in the following ways:
Fiscal reforms: we have strengthened public financial
management systems and multilateral institutions
including the World Bank, IMF have re-engaged the
government. We are working to make the economy more
resilient and shock-proof by diversifying into tourism,
fisheries, agriculture and agro-value-chain, as well as small-
scale manufacturing.
“Thus, there can be certainty about everything from
institutional reform and capacity-building, research and
development, allocations and tenure of exploration and
mineral rights, community development and human rights,
employment agreements and labour laws and regulations,
the environment and protected areas, to enforcement.
But most importantly, we seek to resolve legal issues and
regulatory questions in a fair, transparent, and efficiently
administered manner.
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African Mining April 2020
Legal and regulatory issues: we are reviewing and
harmonising all laws and regulations relating to mining
with a view to removing regulatory duplications and
inconsistencies. We believe that a ‘one document-one
interpretation’ approach is in everyone’s best interests
because it increases transparency and predictability about
the investment relationship, obligations, and responsibilities.
This will improve the general sector governance landscape
from the administration to the enforcement of mining laws
and regulations.
Sierra Leone President Julius Maada Bio (front, centre) during this year’s
Investing in African Mining Indaba, held in February in Cape Town,
South Africa.
www. africanmining.co.za