By Alpha Abu
An investment company that will process and manufacture steel in Sierra Leone has commenced clearing of trees and thickets at its proposed one hundred and fifty hectares land site at Songo in the Koya rural district, outside of Waterloo.
The company named Odhav Multi Industries will employ some one thousand and two hundred Sierra Leoneans who according to the Trade Minister Dr. Hinga Sandi will form about 95% of the company’s workforce, in line with the government’s emphasis on the Local Content Policy.
The minister has on behalf of the government signed a $240 Million investment agreement with the company, which would lead to the production of steel for the first time ever in the history of the country. The company is to also manufacture various other items such as nails, pipes, binding wires and oxygen tanks.
According to sources, a sixth of the investment budget will go into the construction of plants and other structures. The company is expected to serve a market size of three hundred and fifty million people in countries of the regional bloc ECOWAS. The agreement has already been approved by cabinet and endorsed by Parliament.
The CEO of Odhav Multi Industries, Nikhil Chandra spoke about the great potential of their investment in Sierra Leone and how the economy of the country would be stimulated, and employment reduced. The production of steel and other building construction materials will greatly enhance the infrastructural development sector of the country and lessen reliance on imported products. President Julius Maada Bio upon assuming office in 2018, embarked on an aggressive campaign in wooing international private sector investment into Sierra Leone.
Constant power supply is a key source that foreign companies investing in developing countries require and the emergence of heavy industries like Odhav in Sierra Leone, comes at a time the country is about to benefit from an expansive electrification initiative through the trans- border West Africa Power Pool and the government- funded massive mini-grid lighting up of towns.
Copyright © 2021 Politico Online (29/07/21)
