SIERRA Leone is set to have a new seaport constructed at Niti Village in Bonthe District, in the Southern Province of the West African country.
According to Dr John Tambi, the chairman of the Presidential Infrastructural Initiative (PII), the project is in its advanced stages. A site has already been identified and the initial feasibility study completed. Conducted by the Strong Hold Finance Group, the feasibility study looked into the port design and the investment information services that will be integrated with the industrial development in the area.
‘Furthermore, investors have already expressed interest in the project and we are now moving on to the contract agreement stage. I’m certain at this pace we can start the actual implementation of the project not later than this year,’ said Dr John Tambi.
The seaport complementary infrastructure
According to the chairman of the PII, the $1.4bn seaport project will also involve the construction of complementary infrastructures such as a multi-asset based logistics and industrial free trade zone among others. The project will be fully funded by the private sector. The Presidential Infrastructure Initiative (PII) was established in 2018 by President Bio, shortly after he assumed office. The initiative’s mandate is to plan, design, and implement strategic and transformative infrastructural projects that cut across all sectors, using innovative methods of funding, including attracting developers. It is directly supervised by the office of the president.