Please note: you are viewing an old version of this deal. The current version can be found here: Deal #1798

Deal #1798 Version #55481

Sierra Leone
Created at
2013-02-15
Last update
2014-11-20
Last full update
2024-04-10

Land area

Intended size
54 000 ha
Size under contract (leased or purchased area)
  • [2010, current] 44000.0 ha
Comment on land area
44,000 ha (after relinquishing 10,000 ha to communities, which Addax Bioenergy decided it did not require) Other sources say: 2 phases, each 10,000ha, total 20,000ha; 15,500ha according to ESHIA. Grain report states 57 000 hectares. Commercial farms in Africa report states 15 000 hectares.

Intention of investment

Intention of investment
  • [current] Biomass for biofuels, Renewable energy unspecified

Nature of the deal

Nature of the deal
Lease

Negotiation status

Negotiation status
  • [2010, current] Concluded (Contract signed)
Comment on negotiation status
Lease signed in 2010 for 50 year lease with possible extension for 21 years.

Implementation status

Implementation status
  • [2012, current] Startup phase (no production)
Comment on implementation status
began setting up sugarcane nursery in 2009, preparing land in 2010. Will be using about 2,000 ha for infrastructure (such as factory site, roads, power lines, ecological corridors, etc) and 10,000 ha for sugarcane, which should be planted by 2014. Addax Bioenergy’s operations were being hampered by strike actions by the workers complaining, among other things, about lack of transport, lack of drinking water and medical allowance, expatriates lacking respect for local staff and culture, discrimination and marginalisation

Leasing fees

Annual leasing fee
12.35
$
per ha
Comment on leasing fee
A 50-year lease with a rent of US$12.35 per hectare was divided between landowners (50 percent), Chiefdom Councils (20 percent), the District Council (20 percent) and the government (10 percent). The deal made Addax exempt from any adverse effects of legal changes until 2060—the end of the lease. Acknowledgment Agreements signed with landowners in 2011 added an extra annual payment of US$1.40 per acre (3.46 per ha) per annum for the landowners, bringing the annual rent they receive to US$7.90 of the US$12.35 per hectare that Addax Bioenergy pays per year