AYV News, October 9, 2024
Sierra Leone’s Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, Alhaji Timothy Musa Kabba receives copies of the letters of credence from Ambassador of the European Union to Sierra Leone, Jacek Jankowski.
The two statesmen reaffirm the strong partnership and pledging to deepen cooperation in key sectors for sustainable development.
Ambassador Jankowski said: “I’m committed to deepening strong and longstanding relations between us, a partnership rooted in shared values of human rights, peace, democracy and sustainable development”.
The European Union is a longstanding and committed partner of Sierra Leone. The EU and Sierra Leone have built a strong partnership, a partnership of equals, based on shared values. We have been supporting Sierra Leone in the consolidation of peace, stability and democracy (including electoral support), governance, human rights, fundamental freedoms, gender equality, inclusive economic growth and development, sustainable management of natural resources and environmental protection.
The EU is a strong political and development partner of Sierra Leone that is reliable and responsive, also constructive in our engagement with our Sierra Leonean partners.
The European Union has a regular political and policy dialogue with the Government of Sierra Leone, in which we address all issues of common interest, and deepen our partnership, including the annual high-level Political Dialogue between the European Union, EU Member States and the Government.
The last annual high-level Political Dialogue held in November 2022, again chaired by President Bio, showed a strong commitment of the EU and Sierra Leone to their partnership, and allowed for an intense and constructive dialogue on the priority areas of Team Europe’s development partnership with SL (including the EU Multiannual Indicative Program’s areas of green economy, human development and governance), as well as on preparations for the 2023 general elections, an enabling business/investment climate, and multilateral cooperation.
The EU has been supporting the development of Sierra Leone in different areas, like education, agriculture or infrastructure, with a positive impact, delivering benefits for the Sierra Leonean people.
The EU have strong trade and economic relations with Sierra Leone. According to COMTRADE statistics, in 2022, the EU accounted for 12% of Sierra Leonean exports 12% and 17% of the imports. Sierra Leone mainly exports primary products to the EU such as minerals, cocoa beans, coffee and palm oil. The country imports from the EU manufactured goods, food products and fuels.
According to the statics of the European Commission’s trade department (DG TRADE), in 2021, European Direct Investment stocks in Sierra Leone were estimated to be EUR 256 million EUR. EU companies based in Sierra Leone are among the biggest taxpayers in the country and operate in key sector of the economy of Sierra Leone such as aviation, renewable energies, beverages, construction, IT and telecommunication. They are also accountable in their respective Member States and have to comply with the Sierra Leonean and EU requirements, regulations and standards.
As a least developed country, Sierra Leone benefits from privileged access to the EU via the Everything But Arms (EBA) scheme. The EBA scheme removes tariffs and quotas for all imports of goods (except arms and ammunition), coming into the EU from least developed countries (LDCs). It is a component of the Generalized System of Preferences (GSP) granted by the EU to the developing countries.
The EU has initiated an Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA) with 16 West African states, including Sierra Leone. Until the adoption of the full regional EPA with West Africa, ‘stepping stone’ Economic Partnership Agreements with Ivory Coast and Ghana entered into provisional application in 2016.
