Sierra Leone

A Memorandum of Understanding was signed after the visit of SL Foreign Minister Mrs. Zainab Bangura to India in Oct 2008. Implementation is in progress with the arrival of the materials for installation and the appointment of a National coordinator and 3 coordinators-each for telemedicine, tele-education and VVIP terminal.

Following the bilateral discussions held during the official visit of Mrs. Bangura, GOI proposed the setting up of an IT Centre of Excellence and a draft MOU has been sent to SL Government for their acceptance. Initiated in the spirit of South-South Cooperation, the proposed IT Centre would be a capacity building exercise for the nascent knowledge-based sector in Sierra Leone based on the core competence of the Indian IT sector.

A proposal to set up a Training Institute for Diamond Cutting & Polishing in Sierra Leone (TIDCP) was mooted during SL FM’s visit. The Indian expertise in this field is poised to provide the needed jobs for aspiring SL youth, as India is number one in the world in the field of cutting and polishing of diamonds. It would also be a welcome step towards addressing the thorny issue of elimination of illegal trade in conflict (blood) diamonds, which has been plaguing the country ever since bloody civil war of the 1990s.

GOI granted a LOC of US$29.45 million for the modernization of Sierra Leone National Telecommunications Network (SIERRATEL)

A LOC for US$15 million was extended under bilateral funding for the development of commercial agriculture, including the purchase of a wide range of agricultural machinery and implements. This would address the pressing issue of nutrition deprivation due to endemic poverty fuelled by poor exploitation of agriculture resources in African countries. Also, GOI permitted the export of 40,000 MT of rice to SL to address the urgent food insecurity problem.

GOI has expressed interest to help revamping the Education sector of Sierra Leone by deputing experts from Educational Consultants of India (EdCIL).

During the visit of Indian Minister of State for External Affairs, Anand Sharma to Sierra Leone (Freetown) on 12-13 Jan 2009, 200 military barracks were gifted to SL Armed Forces(RSLAF) as a step towards bolstering its infrastructure destroyed by many years of civil war.