Sierra Leone |

Ex-Civil War Leader Wins Presidential Vote in Sierra Leone

FREE TOWN (Capital Markets in Africa) – Sierra Leone elected as president an opposition politician who briefly ruled the West African nation as head of a junta during the civil war in the 1990s. Julius Maada Bio of the Sierra Leone People’s Party was declared the winner on Wednesday of a tight presidential run-off by the electoral commission after receiving 51.81 percent of ballots cast against 48.19 percent for his opponent, Samura Kamara, of the All…

Sierra Leone to Vote Amid Discontent Over Ebola, Iron Ore

Posted on by The Editorial Team

FREE TOWN (Capital Markets in Africa) – Sierra Leone will hold elections on Wednesday in which an unprecedented number of political parties will compete as discontent over the government’s handling of an economy battered by the Ebola outbreak has soared. The vote marks a departure from a decades-old tradition that mainly divided the balance of power between the All People’s Congress and the opposition Sierra Leone People’s Party, with a newcomer, the National Grand Coalition,…

Sierra Leone Ruling Party Names Koroma Successor for 2018 Polls

Posted on by The Editorial Team

FREE TOWN (Capital Markets in Africa) – Sierra Leone’s ruling All People’s Congress appointed Foreign Affairs Minister Samura Kamara as its candidate for next year’s presidential polls to succeed President Ernest Bai Koroma. Kamara was named uncontested on Sunday as Koroma’s preferred successor at a party convention that was broadcast live on state-owned radio from Makeni, 187 kilometers (116 miles) northeast of the capital, Freetown. Koroma is due to step down after more than 10 years in…

Sierra Leone President orders 30 percent government spending cut

Posted on by The Editorial Team

FREETOWN (Capital Markets in Africa) – Sierra Leone will cut the cost of running its government by 30 percent to try to tackle an economic crisis triggered by falls in commodity prices and the aftermath of an Ebola epidemic, President Ernest Bai Koroma said in a statement. The measures will come into effect immediately and continue for the rest of the year. The budget for the first half of 2017 will face similar cuts, the statement…

Sierra Leone Pension Fund Buying Government Debt as Rates Rise

Posted on by The Editorial Team

Freetown, Sierra Leone, Capital Markets in Africa: Sierra Leone’s state-owned pension fund is increasing its holdings of government debt after rates more than doubled this year on Treasury bills sold by the West African iron-ore and cocoa producer. The National Social Security and Insurance Trust, or Nassit, is also increasing the maturities of its fixed-income investments, Alpha Keita, head of the fund’s Treasury Investment Division, said in an interview in Freetown, the capital. Nassit holds 105…