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The Government of Sierra Leone is hosting a delegation from the Federative Republic of Brazil on the 14th and 15th October 2009 in Freetown. This follows His Excellency Dr Ernest Bai Koroma's State Visit to Brazil at the invitation of President Lula in August 2009. During that visit, both Presidents committed themselves to strengthening the economic cooperation and diplomatic ties between the two countries, including the establishment of resident missions in both countries and promoting investment by Brazilian firms in the Sierra Leonean economy.
The 22-member delegation is led by Brazil's Vice Minister of Commerce, Ivan Joao Ramalho, and it includes officials from both the government and private sector. The delegation will be engaging public and private sector officials in Sierra Leone across the Agenda for Change priority sectors of agriculture, infrastructure, energy, and health.
The participation of the private sector in the visit reflects President Koroma's strong commitment to attracting private investment to create jobs and drive Sierra Leone's economic development.
His Excellency President Ernest Bai Koroma said:
"I welcome our Brazilian friends to Sierra Leone, and am glad that they will have the chance to see first hand the many economic opportunities Sierra Leone has to offer. From mining to infrastructure, agribusiness to renewable energy, our economy has great potential and it is good to see that a growing number of international investors are recognizing that."
The companies from Brazil include:
• COEXPORT, one of Brazil's largest trading companies involved in fertilizers, iron ore, textiles and agriculture; with estimated annual sales of over US $100 million;
• Olderbrecht, which had revenues of US $17 billion in 2008 and employs over 80,000 persons. It specializes in construction, oil, real estate, ethanol and sugar
• Fidens Engenharia, a construction, civil engineering and mining firm
• Adrade Gutierrez, which provides engineering, construction and related services, including building hydro-electric and thermoelectric power plants, oil refineries, roads, airports and ports
• Camargo Correa,a holding company with subsidiaries specializing in engineering and construction, cement and real estate.
The interest shown by these top-tier Brazilian companies reflects Sierra Leone's growing attractiveness as a destination for foreign investment. For the third year running, Sierra Leone climbed in the World Bank's Doing Business rankings, and international benchmarks show it has one of the highest levels of investor protection in Africa. Next month, Sierra Leone is hosting a major investment conference in London that is expected to attract private investors from around the world.
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