Sierra Leone’s government has signed new 49-year land lease agreements to open up the Kasafoni iron ore deposits, promising jobs and infrastructure for rural communities. But critics say the deals risk enriching political elites and foreign investors while leaving ordinary people dispossessed and poor.
The state-owned Sierra Leone Mines and Mineral Development and Management Corporation (SLMMDMC) finalised agreements with Diang, Sambaia Bendugu and Dansogoia chiefdoms in the north. Annual surface rents range from $6,000 to $118,000, subject to five-year reviews.
Finance Minister Sheku Fantamadi Bangura led a high-level delegation including senior ministers and parliamentary committee chairs to secure the agreements, which also pledge roads, schools, hospitals and electricity for the communities.
“We have seen this before with African Minerals and SL Mining. Politicians took their cuts, foreign companies exported billions in minerals, and communities were left with broken land and polluted water,” said a governance watchdog in Freetown.
In Tonkolili, the collapse of African Minerals in 2015 wiped out thousands of jobs and left workers unpaid. SL Mining’s licence cancellation in 2019 triggered an arbitration battle that cost the government millions. Similar concerns are now being raised about the Kasafoni concessions.
Analysts suggest that the unusually high ministerial involvement in the new leases signals political interests at stake. “These contracts are not just about mining iron ore; they are about securing patronage networks ahead of the next elections,” said a senior political analyst in Makeni.
Some local activists allege that portions of surface rent and future royalty payments are likely to be siphoned off through side deals with shell companies and politically connected subcontractors. While no official wrongdoing has been proven, Sierra Leone’s mining history is replete with examples of public wealth diverted into private pockets.
“Chiefs and community representatives sign these agreements because the state leans on them, but they rarely have real bargaining power,” said an activist from Kono. “The politicians and their business allies benefit, while the villagers lose their land.”
Local chiefs who signed the deals publicly welcomed the agreements, thanking the government for bringing investment. But campaigners warn that once the ore is extracted, the communities risk being left with degraded farmland and little to show for decades of mining.
Despite mining making up over 70% of Sierra Leone’s export earnings, the rural districts hosting the mines remain some of the poorest in the country.
“Unless these deals are radically different, Kasafoni will simply be the next chapter in a long history of extraction, corruption and betrayal,” the activist added.
📌 This article draws on official statements, civil society commentary and past mining sector cases. Allegations of corruption are based on analysis and historical precedent; no current official has been charged with wrongdoing.
