The Addax project is located near the town of Makeni in the Bombali district, approximately 160 kilometres from the capital, Freetown. The region around the town of Makeni is the fastest-growing area of the country, and a major commercial, educational, logistical and economic centre due to its strategic location and the recent improvements in infrastructure along with the continuing development of nearby mining and agricultural areas.

The project includes greenfield development of sugarcane cultivation, establishment of an ethanol distillery and export of sugarcane bagasse-based electricity to the national grid. The capital investment of some 267 million EUROs is the largest agricultural project ever undertaken in Sierra Leone and has been financed with the support of eight European and African development finance institutions. Commercial production is expected to commence in Fall 2013.

The SEI project team visited the Makeni project area over a period of three days and met with Addax Bioenergy officials from different divisions, including technical design, environmental management, safety/security and community relations. The project team visited two villages in the area and participated in a stakeholder meeting connected to the Farmer Development Programme (FDP). Outside the project area, the team met with a variety of other stakeholders, including representatives from the regional/local government, educational institutions and several NGOs.

The project team conducted interviews and meetings in Freetown, including a meeting with the current Energy Minister. Meetings were also held with the Deputy Minister for Agriculture and with the Director and several officials from the Sierra Leone Environmental Protection Agency. Discussions were also held with representatives from international organizations and financiers, including the African Development Bank, the U.N. Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) and the EU delegation to Sierra Leone.

The next step for the SEI project team, during the first half of 2013, is to identify a few key components of the Makeni project for which an interdisciplinary methodology will then be developed in order to conduct detailed analysis, including socio-economic and environmental impacts.

It is hoped that the analysis will provide useful feedback to all four main sets of stakeholders:

  1. The company itself and eventually the associated industries that will supply inputs and services as the project develops;
  2. The government agencies that oversee or regulate project activities and support the surrounding infrastructure and institutions;
  3. The local community and the civil society organizations or NGOs that support them; and
  4. International organizations that are supporting the project financially or are providing assessments and strategic advice.

The project will include some complementary analyses elsewhere in sub-Saharan Africa so as to place the development challenges in Sierra Leone in their broader context.