Tokeh Beach on the Freetown peninsula, Sierra Leone.
01 / City & connections
Freetown, between hills and harbour
The capital brings together a working harbour, hillside neighbourhoods and a long Atlantic waterfront. Its setting is part of the story: a city closely connected to the forested peninsula around it.
02 / Landscape & heritage
The Freetown peninsula coast
Lumley, Tokeh and River No. 2 each offer a different view of the peninsula, from city beachfront to river estuary. They give a first glimpse of the country beyond a business briefing.
Whether you are starting with an idea, an established company or equipment ready to work, we help you investigate the market, meet relevant people and organise the support you need on the ground.
Start or Expand a Commercial Farm
Rice, cassava, cocoa, palm oil, vegetables or livestock: develop a farm around your experience, investment plans and intended customers.
How Capital Africa helps
We arrange farm and land visits, coordinate land-rights checks and agronomist introductions, and help explore irrigation, equipment, processing and distribution.
Explore fish ponds, hatcheries, feed supply, seafood processing or refrigerated distribution as a business in its own right.
How Capital Africa helps
We connect you with aquaculture specialists and operators, arrange site assessments and help investigate water, permits, inputs, cold storage and buyers.
Supply solar systems, develop a power project or establish an energy-services business for homes, farms and commercial customers.
How Capital Africa helps
We research customers and locations, arrange project visits and connect engineering, installation and licensing specialists for solar, hydropower and on-site generation.
Bring healthcare expertise, medical equipment or a new facility concept to Guinea or Sierra Leone.
How Capital Africa helps
We help research locations and service needs, arrange meetings with healthcare operators and qualified advisers, and coordinate site, staffing and licensing enquiries.
Own excavators, loaders, cranes, trucks or generators? Explore a rental, leasing or maintenance business serving local contractors and operators.
How Capital Africa helps
We research potential customers and utilisation, introduce local operating partners and help plan import arrangements, storage, maintenance and commercial terms.
Bring your existing company into Guinea or Sierra Leone, whether you provide engineering, shipping, distribution or professional services.
How Capital Africa helps
We help identify premises, local partners and professional advisers, coordinate registration enquiries and customer meetings, and support your first working visit.
A small, open, resource-led economy with a deep-water port and an English-language commercial environment.
Sierra Leone is a small economy by output, at roughly USD 7.5 billion in 2025, with a population of about 8.8 million. Scale matters commercially: the domestic consumer market is limited, and most business cases that work here are built on export, on resources, or on serving a specific gap rather than on volume.
Exports are heavily concentrated in minerals. On 2024 figures, iron ore and concentrates accounted for a little over half of export value, titanium ores for around a seventh, with cocoa and diamonds following. That concentration is the central fact of the economy: it means external prices, not domestic demand, drive a large share of foreign exchange earnings.
The institutional picture has been consolidating. Investment promotion, formerly the standalone SLIEPA, now sits inside the National Investment Board, and mineral licensing runs through the National Minerals Agency under the Mines and Minerals Development Act 2022. For an incoming business this is helpful: fewer doors, and a clearer statutory basis for mineral rights than existed a decade ago.
Two practical features shape day to day commerce. English is the official language and the working language of business and law, which lowers the friction for international counterparties considerably compared with the francophone neighbours. And the leone was redenominated in 2022, so any historic pricing, contract or quotation needs checking for which unit it is actually stated in.
The constraints are real and should be planned around rather than discounted: a small domestic market, infrastructure and power limitations, and a mineral-led export profile that transmits commodity price swings directly into the wider economy.
The dominant export earner. Iron ore alone was over half of 2024 export value.
What exists
Iron ore, titanium ores including rutile, diamonds and other minerals. Licensing runs through the National Minerals Agency Mining Cadastre Office under the Mines and Minerals Development Act 2022.
Where opportunity may be
Services and inputs around producing operations, and downstream handling and logistics, rather than exploration for most incoming businesses.
Limitations
Licence status varies by project and needs checking at the cadastre. Capital intensity and commodity price exposure are both high.
A stated national priority sector with an undeveloped coastline.
What exists
Early-stage hospitality infrastructure.
Where opportunity may be
Accommodation and supporting services, mainly serving business travel and regional visitors.
Limitations
Air connectivity and supporting infrastructure remain the practical limits.
Trade
What Moves, and Where.
Exports2024
Iron ore and concentrates (around 55% of export value), titanium ores and concentrates (around 14%), cocoa beans (around 10%), unset diamonds (around 3%). The five largest products account for roughly 85% of goods exports.[9]
Partners2024
China was the largest export destination at around two thirds of the total, followed by the EU and India.[9]
Regional position
ECOWAS
Mano River Union
African Union
AfCFTA
Doing Business
The Practical Environment.
English is the official language and the working language of business, contracts and the courts.
Company incorporation is handled by the Corporate Affairs Commission. Tax registration is a separate step with the National Revenue Authority, which issues the Taxpayer Identification Number.
The National Investment Board acts as the promotion and facilitation point for incoming investors, including support with registration and permits.
Mineral rights are administered through the National Minerals Agency Mining Cadastre Office. Any mineral-related transaction should begin with a cadastre check rather than with documents supplied by a counterparty.
Tax
Goods and Services Tax is charged at a single standard rate of 15% on most goods and services, including imports, for local use or benefit.[6]
Corporate income tax, withholding and sector-specific fiscal terms should be confirmed with the National Revenue Authority and local counsel for the specific activity. Rates and reliefs change.[6]
Institutions
National Investment Board, incorporating SLIEPA[1]
Investment promotion and export development. The former Sierra Leone Investment and Export Promotion Agency now operates as the Investment and Export Promotion Directorate within the National Investment Board, providing investor targeting, export facilitation, market advisory and business registration support.
Mineral rights, licensing through the Mining Cadastre Office, geological information and regulated precious minerals trading, under the Mines and Minerals Development Act 2022.
These are the relevant public institutions. Listing them describes the market. It does not indicate any relationship between them and Capital Africa.
Currency
Leone
SLE
Bank of Sierra Leone
The leone was redenominated on 1 July 2022, removing three zeros, and the ISO code changed from SLL to SLE at a rate of 1,000 to 1. Old SLL notes ceased to be exchangeable after 31 March 2024. Pricing quoted in older material may still be in the pre-2022 unit, which is a common source of confusion in contracts and quotations.[3]
No exchange rate is published here. Rates move, and a rate hardcoded into a web page is wrong within days.
The country’s deep-water port and principal maritime gateway, on the Sierra Leone River estuary east of central Freetown. Handles the majority of container and general cargo.
Corridors
Freetown to Bo and Kenema (domestic distribution)
Freetown toward the Guinea and Liberia borders (Mano River trade)
Commercial centres
Freetown, Bo, Kenema, Makeni
Areas Worth Understanding
Where Commercial Interest Tends to Sit.
These are areas, not projects. Nothing here is a listing, a transaction or something available to participate in.
Agricultural processing
Driver
Established primary production, notably cocoa, with limited domestic processing capacity and existing export demand.
Still needs investigation
Consistent volume and grade at the farm gate, power reliability at any processing site, and confirmed offtake.
Who it suits
Operators with processing capability, or investors able to fund it alongside one.
Handling, storage and inland transport
Driver
A single deep-water port serving a mineral-led export economy, with inland distribution to Bo, Kenema and Makeni.
Still needs investigation
Actual throughput and bottleneck data, existing operator positions, and land or concession rights.
Who it suits
Logistics operators and infrastructure investors.
Services and inputs to mining operations
Driver
Producing operations in iron ore and titanium require sustained supply, maintenance and specialist services.
Still needs investigation
Which operations are actually producing, their procurement arrangements, and existing supplier positions.
Who it suits
Industrial service businesses and equipment suppliers.
Risks and Realities
What to Plan Around.
Commercial constraints, stated as implications rather than as commentary. A market can carry real opportunity and real constraint at the same time.
Commodity price concentration
With iron ore and titanium dominating exports, external price moves feed quickly into foreign exchange availability and the wider economy. Plan currency exposure accordingly.
Small domestic market
A population under nine million with GDP per capita around USD 850 in 2025 means consumer-volume business cases rarely work on domestic demand alone.
Power and infrastructure
Power availability constrains industrial and processing activity. Captive generation is often part of the capital plan rather than an optional extra.
Currency redenomination legacy
Documents, pricing and historic contracts may be stated in the pre-2022 unit. Confirm which leone any figure refers to before relying on it.
Licence verification
Mineral licence status varies by project. A licence presented by a counterparty is not evidence until checked against the cadastre.
Compliance considerations
Mineral rights and export require licensing under the Mines and Minerals Development Act 2022.
Rough diamond export engages Kimberley Process requirements.
Counterparty and beneficial ownership checks, particularly on mineral transactions.
Sanctions screening on counterparties and their ownership.
These identify questions to ask. They are not legal conclusions, and current requirements should be confirmed with qualified local counsel.
Before Entering This Market
A Working Checklist.
01Define the commercial objective and whether it depends on domestic demand or on export
02Confirm which sector regulator and licensing regime applies
03Check any mineral licence directly against the National Minerals Agency cadastre
04Confirm the currency unit in every quotation, contract and historic figure
05Understand the payment and foreign exchange environment for your transaction size
06Identify and verify potential partners independently
07Plan a market visit with scheduled meetings rather than an exploratory trip
08Validate logistics through the Freetown port and inland to your site
09Obtain specialist legal and tax advice on the current requirements for your activity
We arrange meeting requests with the relevant ministries and agencies in Sierra Leone, prepare agendas and documents, and coordinate transport, interpreters and delegation logistics. Appointments are confirmed by the receiving office.
Your hotel, vehicle, providers, scope and costs are confirmed before booking.
Next Step
Considering Sierra Leone?
This briefing is what the public record establishes. What it cannot tell you is how Sierra Leone works for your sector, your structure and your timeline, which is the assessment.
Numbered references in the text point here. Each source is labelled by what it actually is. A central bank, a licensing regulator and a national statistics office are all authoritative and are not the same thing.
Trade values conflict between sources. World Integrated Trade Solution returns a materially lower export total than the 2024 figures used here, without a clearly stated year on the page. The 2024 composition percentages are used because they carry an explicit year; the absolute total is deliberately not published.
Corporate income tax rates, sector fiscal terms and any investment incentives were not established from an official source in this pass and are therefore not published.
The relationship between the Corporate Affairs Commission and the National Investment Board one-stop facility should be confirmed directly before advising a client on sequence.
Capital Africa market briefing: Sierra Leone. Last reviewed August 2026, next review February 2027. Every figure above carries its reference year and its source.
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