AYV News, June 25, 2024

Sierra Leone’s President, His Excellency Dr. Julius Maada Bio will today co-chair the Roundtable alongside OPEC Fund’s President Dr. Abdulhamid Alkhalifa. The high-level event, holding at the Vienna-based OPEC Fund’s Headquarters in Austria, will be moderated by Hon. Dr. Kandeh Kolleh Yumkella, Presidential Initiative on Climate Change, Renewable Energy and Food Security (PI-CREF), Chairman.

President Bio and First Lady Dr. Fatima Maada Bio arrive in Vienna ahead of the Roundtable and the third Development Forum of the OPEC Fund for International Development (the OPEC Fund).

OPEC Fund’s 2024 Development Forum offers Sierra Leone an opportunity to rally developmental, Institutional, commercial investors and other key stakeholders from both the public and private sectors to invest in and advance critical projects to ensure socio-economic development.

President Bio has prioritised the expansion of the country’s energy sector, integration of renewable energy sources and enhancement of regulatory frameworks to attract domestic and international investments.

The roundtable will include two presentations on strategic opportunities for Renewable Energy and Agricultural Investments followed by a Question-and-Answer Session.

Sierra Leone will also be represented by Sheku A.F. Bangura, Minister of Finance, Dr. Eldred Tunde Taylor, Deputy Minister of Energy 1 and Dr. Henry Musa Kpaka, Minister of Agriculture and Food Security. Both Deputy Minister Taylor and Minister Kpaka will present Sierra Leone’s Bumbuna 1 Project and Sierra Leone’s Agricultural Transformation Programme respectively.

The OPEC Fund is holding its 24th Development Forum in Vienna, Austria under the theme, “Collaborate for Impact.”