Deal #1798 Version #55492

44,000 ha (after relinquishing 10,000 ha to communities, which Addax Bioenergy decided it did not require)-- only 30 000ha have been relinquished by the company to date. Other sources say: 2 phases, each 10,000ha, total 20,000ha; 15,500ha according to ESHIA. Grain and other data sources state 57 000 hectares. Commercial farms in Africa report states 15 000 hectares. 10000ha have sugarcane pivots, 2000ha are currently used for a farmer development program-- rice, the rest of the land is being used by the local farmers for food security.

Lease signed in 2010 for 50 year lease with possible extension for 21 years. The initial concept for the ABSL project evolved around 2006/2007. MOU signed on 09:02:2010. Lease agreement signed on 09:04:2010.

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. Project was only operational for a short time as yields were poor, the land lies idle now (2016). However the investor still holds the land lease- i.e. land has not been given back to the community members yet. German development bank has withdrawn its funding for the project.

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

As a Farmer Development Program, which will prepare and sow about 2,000 ha of rice fields in the project area, and train about 2,000 farmers throughout the life of the program. According to the FAO representative in Sierra Leone, by plowing 200 ha of land for farmers on the lease area in 2010, Addax is helping the local people with food security. Community members in the lease area refute this generalization from the FAO representative, who has never hidden his support for the Addax project. They maintained that the area Addax plowed for them was too far away and prepared too late to produce rice in 2010.