Sectors

The PPP Unit through the support of UNDP helps provide technical and legal support to all local councils in identifying and structuring projects with PPP potentials. They support them in the identification and procurement of technical consultants to execute on relevant feasibility studies.

The Unit also provides capacity building opportunities on PPPs for local council staff and their partners, to include all relevant Ministries Departments and Agencies that function at local Government levels. This helps to enable and empower the decentralizations process from a revenue generation perspective. Public Private Community Partnerships helps grow local communities.

In line with the Government’s strategy to promote and increase private sector involvement in the country’s economic and social development plan, particularly in the area of public utility services, the Government has taken the initiative to introduce the Public Private Partnership (PPP) program.

The “partnership” is in essence a way of public services provision whereby the Government contracts with private sector companies to build finance and operate infrastructure for public services or for its own use. At the end of the contract the infrastructure transfers to State ownership increasing the stock and value of public assets.

PPP’s introduce the disciplines and efficiencies of private sector management and methods to the provision of public services. Experience from other countries now points to significant advantages in terms of cost, value and quality of the delivered services. Such participation aims at improving the quality of services provided to citizens, alleviating the burden on the State budget without affecting the state ability in providing services at fair social prices, creating job opportunities, stimulating investment and consumption thus boosting growth, while attracting FDI’s, and others.

Affirming government’s seriousness to activate the PPP initiative, a PPP Unit was established within the Office of the President and reporting directly to the Chief of Staff. The PPP unit is therefore charged with co-coordinating the PPP national programs across ministries and public bodies. The last four years since its inception has witnessed the Unit moving from an establishment phase to a development phase and now we are working on sustaining all the gains to ensure that growth and sustainability is maintained.

National Power Authority (NPA) has been unbundled into two utilities – Electricity Generation and Transmission Company (EGTC) & Electricity Distribution and Supply Authority (EDSA).

Sierra Leone’s new Energy policy creates a platform that attracts private sector participation. It paves the way for independent power producers (IPPs) for varying forms of energy generation solutions ranging from heavy fuel oil, thermal, solar, and hydro projects.

The PPP Unit works with the Ministry of Energy on different power sources to alleviate the power deficit across the country. Our work includes collaborating with the Ministry in project identification and assessment, development of concept notes and conducting feasibility studies, and thereafter manages the procurement process for the selection of private partners and the implementation and monitoring of projects.

Affirming government’s seriousness to activate the PPP initiative, a PPP Unit was established within the Office of the President and reporting directly to the Chief of Staff. The PPP unit is therefore charged with co-coordinating the PPP national programs across ministries and public bodies. The last four years since its inception has witnessed the Unit moving from an establishment phase to a development phase and now we are working on sustaining all the gains to ensure that growth and sustainability is maintained.

Sierra Leone remains predominantly an agricultural economy, in spite of the high profile the mineral sector receives. Rice and cassava are the key staples, while cocoa, coffee; oil palm and cashew nut are the major cash crops.

In 2012, agriculture contributed about 52 percent to GDP, 18 percent of exports and 61 percent of the workforce. In the past, Sierra Leone exported significant quantities of agricultural commodities such as coffee, cocoa and oil palm. Over the decade, agriculture has demonstrated its underlying potential growing at an annual average of 4 percent.

Ministry of Agriculture Forestry and Food Security and the PPP Unit are in the advanced stages of a competitive procurement for the selection of a competent private partner to take over the 3,000 hectares Gambia Mattru Oil Palm Plantation and its ancillary facilities created out of GoSL and Islamic Development Bank funding.

Sierra Leone has comparative advantage in West Africa, hosting fisheries biomass comprising of shrimps, Demersal Finfish, Pelagic, Tuna Fish etc.

The Unit works with the Ministry of Fisheries & marine Resources in identifying and packaging PPP project opportunities through the provision of required technical and legal support. Recently, this collaboration saw the signing and operationalization of a PPP Lease Concession Agreement with a private partner for four fish receiving centers and jetties in Tombo, Goderich, Shenge and Bonthe. However, the PPP Partner was constrained in the implementation of its investment plan and sought termination and thus MFMR/PPP Unit are in engagements to contract out the much improved sites to an experienced private partner. PPP opportunities in the Fishing Sector include:

• Concept and Feasibility on a Fish Harbor
• Regional Cold Room Centers.

The standard of education in Sierra Leone before and immediately after independence was one of the best around the world. With the University of Sierra Leone established in 1827, Sierra Leone was dubbed, “Athens of West Africa.” But that educational system fell on hard times. Over time the educational system has significantly deteriorated. From 1970 to 1985, the average growth rate for primary school enrollment was slightly more than 6.0 percent, while that for secondary school enrollment was just over 6.5 percent. From 1985 to 1990, the average annual growth rate for primary school enrollment fell to 2.0 percent, while that for secondary school enrollment fell to 1.6 percent.

The PPP Unit will work with the Ministry of Education to ascertain possible opportunities for private sector capital Investments in the Education sector.

As we move into the twenty-first century, the face of public health is changing. The central actors in public health initiatives like; Governments, international health organizations, and non-governmental organizations are now collaborating with the private sector for the effective delivery of varying critical health services. At the same time, private for-profit organizations have come to realize the importance of public health goals for their immediate and long-term objectives, and to accept a broader view of social responsibility as part of their corporate mandate. Public-private partnerships are becoming a popular solution for large, complicated, and expensive public health problems.

TThe PPP Unit collaborates with the Ministry of Health and international partners to undertake PPP projects. Recently identified projects include the

• construction of Laboratory/diagnostic centers,
• specialty hospitals and
• the establishment of a Para medical training facility.

In 2015, the Unit completed a pre-feasibility study to assess the viability of available options for an integrated transportation system that will support the Lungi International Airport and Freetown estuary under a PPP arrangement. In 2016, the World Bank intervened proffering a proposal to extend the study into a full feasibility stage under the Airport Estuary Support Project. The World Bank instead decided in 2017 to facilitate an Urban Mass Transit project that will cater not only for the estuary but road transportation in the Freetown municipality.

A commercial pre-feasibility study on the development of a deep sea port was also conducted in 2015. GoSL is reviewing further the option of progressing the development of a deep sea port and rail project to help aid and minimize operating costs as it relates to transportation constraints in the mining and agricultural produce Industries.

A Prefeasibility has also been conducted on potential Road Maintenance PPP opportunities.