comment 1 Ted Balls4 Apr 2015 09:46
I will say it again, it is not possible for foreign investors who are subject to anti-corruption laws in their home countries to successfully operate in Sierra Leone. In fact, the general consensus in London, Zurich, Tel Aviv, New York, Toronto and Johannesburg, the traditional centres of finance for West African extractive industries projects, is that Sierra Leone under the Koroma mafia government is best avoided.
It is near impossible to raise finance for projects in Sierra Leone from serious capital markets players, and this is not just because of the Ebola crisis.
The regime in Sierra Leone is viewed as one of the most corrupt in the world and in the current era where the high flying Benny Steinmetz’s of the world are brought low by corruption allegations, serious companies can simply not afford to operate in Sierra Leone.
In fact it boggles the mind that one or two Western companies like Stellar Diamonds which, according to its recent press releases, is in the process of applying for a mining licence, are under the misguided notion that they can operate in Sierra Leone without engaging in corrupt activity.
If I was a shareholder and/or financier of Sierra Rutile, Addax or Stellar Diamonds, I would be very, very concerned. And I would challenge the management of these companies to explain how they are able to operate or intend to operate in such a rotten system without becoming tainted. It is simply not possible.
The government in Sierra Leone is extremely corrupt, even by the standards of West Africa. And the President and those around him, clearly believe they have nothing left to lose.
The trend now is to grant the president and his family equity in projects. His brothers routinely negotiate all manner of equity deals on behalf of “No. 1″. Several companies have done this and their actions will surely catch up with them in time, not least because the Koroma brothers and Koroma-led cabal of thieves will not be in power forever.
Also, the Administrators of the US Foreign Corrupt Practices Act and the UK Anti bribery legislation are salivating over the opportunity to convict some of those foreign companies which have, and are operating in Sierra Leone.
They want to make an example of the Koroma-led government, which seems bound and determined to make corruption a national way of life, even while other jurisdictions are reforming.
China by the way, is slowly following the lead of the West and is tackling corruption internally. Much has been written about high profile convictions within China, and eventually China’s external corruption policy will be more aligned with what is happening inside the country.
In the meantime, Sierra Leone will be left behind, a footnote in the African Renaissance story because of the greed, ignorance and shortsightedness of its current leadership.
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