News & Media

London: Investing in African Mining Indaba (Mining Indaba), part of Hyve Group Plc is honoured to announce that His Excellency, Julius Maada Bio, President of Sierra Leone has confirmed his participation to deliver his presidential keynote address at the upcoming Mining Indaba Virtual.

H.E. Julius Maada Bio will be joining already confirmed president of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), His Excellency, Félix Tshisekedi at the online conference, which will be held on 2-3 February 2021, with organisers hinting at more presidential announcements to be made early next year.

Sierra Leone is a resource-rich country of diamonds, iron ore, rutile and bauxite as well as small-scale artisanal mining of gold and diamonds, possessing one of the largest rutile reserves in the world. Mining contributes about 20% to the national GDP, accounting for around three-quarters of the country’s exports.

In more recent years, prudent management of natural resources has been a pillar of the national agenda for prosperity within the country. Sierra Leone has shown strong commitment to using the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI) as a tool to bring reforms that will attract much-needed investment into the country. Indicating a more positive outlook for mining in the near future is becoming apparent for Sierra Leone.

Announced recently, the newly floating LNG (FNG) project with GasLog which is set for FID next year, will be one of the key market drivers for powering mining projects. The new Western Area Power Generation Project will help increase Sierra Leone’s power generation capacity over 50%, once full capacity is reached. Electricity generated by the facility will be sold to the national energy, EDSA, under a 20-year power purchase agreement. Creating a path forward, the venture is expected to spur private investment back into the country and revitalise the economy, lighting the way for national progress.

Building into the overall theme of Mining Indaba Virtual, geared towards building resilience and regrowth, helping to adopt a new mindset for African Mining, H.E. Julius Maada Bio will be discussing creating a progressive investment environment through the Minerals Policy, provide an update on the EITI framework within the country, and the array of opportunities for international investment in new project development.

Registration for the Mining Indaba Virtual has now opened, the event is free to attend. 

For more information about the programme, visit the website here.