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Sierra Leone’s Transport Minister signs MOU on port and railway development

Sierra Leone’s Transport Minister signs MOU on port and railway development

Sierra Leone’s Transport and Aviation Minister, Leonard Balogun Koroma on 16th September arrived in Beijing, People’s Republic of China, for the signing ceremony of a Memorandum of Understanding between the Government of Sierra Leone through his ministry, and China Kingho Group, for the development of Railway and Deep Seaport.

In May 2013, the Government of Sierra Leone (Ministers of Mines and Justice) entered into a general Memorandum of Understanding with China Kingho Energy Group for the development of Mines, concentration plant steel plant Sea Port, Railway and Road.

This latest MOU with the Ministry of Transport and Aviation is a supplementary one, to the one signed in May. The MOU deals with the components that fall under the direct control of Ministry of Transport and Aviation, which is the development of a Port and Railway in Sierra Leone.

When fully developed, the Port and Railway projects are expected to expedite the growth of the country’s transport capacity and the development of industrial, agricultural and service trade sectors with a view of realizing a stable and sound economic growth, as outlined in the Agenda for Prosperity, Sierra Leone’s blueprint for national development.

Speaking at the signing ceremony in Beijing, Minister Leonard Balogun Koroma dilated on the relevance of an effective and robust transport system to a country’s economy as “no country in the world has ever developed without a robust transport system by land, air and sea. An effective transport system is the nerve center of any economy in the world”

Minister Leonard Koroma spoke of the three major components in his ministry, that will help in ensuring an economy turnaround for the country; the airport; sea port; and railway.

According to Minister Koroma, the airport component involves building a new one with support by EXIM Bank of China. “We also want to reintroduce domestic air transport system in the country” On the Deep Sea Port component, he disclosed, it is most important, since the country has billions of tons of iron ore minerals but that without a proper sea port transport system, Sierra Leone cannot realize the economic benefit of these billions of ore deposit.

Speaking further, he referenced happenings with the two leading Iron Ore exporting companies in the country, saying, “At the moment, the manner in which London Mining and African Mineral are   transporting the ore is not the ideal state as it is slow and outdated”

Minister Koroma, speaking from a regional framework, disclosed that when the deep sea port is developed, there is the possibility of neighboring countries utilizing it “and all of these will bring revenue to Government and in so doing, the President will be able to finance the eight pillars in the Agenda for Prosperity” He therefore, urged Kingho to pay priority to the development of the Deep Sea Port.

Railway and Deep Seaport 2

Speaking on the railway component, Minister Koroma said, Sierra Leone has not invested in railway development and as such “we are lacking the economic benefits attached to it. It is therefore necessary that in order to realize our economic potential, we must invest in our railway.”

Chairman for Kingho Energy Group, Huo Qinghua in his remarks paid gleaming tribute to President Ernest Bai Koroma for visiting their offices which he said “was recognition of our work and an inspiration for us to move forward.”

Huo Qinghua said, as a company, they have a responsibility to honor the commitment made in line with Sierra Leone’s Agenda for Prosperity.

On the MOU signed with the Transport and Aviation Minister, he said, such a signing ceremony “represents a good image of our desire to move our objectives forward especially in line with the transport component” as it will also consolidate the confidence and trust of his company in the Port and Railway projects.

He stated, they are working on feasibility studies for the construction of a Sea Port as well as the one for the Railway as they currently have a team of engineers in the country.

Sierra Leone’s envoy to China, His Excellency Victor Bockarie Foh, whilst speaking, underscored the country’s commitment to development, as outlined in President Ernest Koroma’s Agenda for Prosperity.

On Kingho Energy Group’s operation in Sierra Leone, Ambassador Foh said, even though the Group’s   investment portfolio went through the Ministry of Mines and Mineral Resources, “the Ministry of Transport and Aviation is almost pivotal in Kingho’s operations.”

Ambassador Foh expressed hope, that with the determination of the Minister of Transport and with the support of the Embassy and the Government, Kingho will make a mark in Sierra Leone before the end of President Koroma’s tenure in office.

On the 17th of September, the Minister Koroma and Ambassador Foh visited the Kingho Industrial Park in Yinchuan Province to have a view of Ningxia Qinghua Group, established in 2006 and located in Wuzhong City, South of Ningdong Energy and Chemical base, Ningxia Hui autonomous region.China Kingho Group consists of subsidiaries including Inner Mongolia Kingho Group, Qinghai Kingho Group, Ningxia Kingho Group, Xinjiang Kingho Group and Tianjin Kingho International Trading Company. As a multi-industrial, multi-regional and multi-national modern energy and chemical enterprise, the Group mainly engages in mining and beneficiation of metal ores, metallurgy, and new coal chemical technology businesses.

Currently, the Group has cooperation with Sierra Leone, Mozambique, Mongolia, Australia, and Kazakhstan.

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