Tech firm steps in to save Sierra Leone biofuel project

Sierra Leone's bio-energy sector received a boost at the second Africa Investment Forum when a Chinese company agreed to take over a biofuel project in Northern province.

Addax Bioenergy in Makeni was launched in 2014 to develop a sustainable bio-ethanol from sugarcane for export and domestic use, and to produce clean energy from a biomass plant for an ethanol refinery that can supply the state grid.

The company, a subsidiary of investment firm AOG, aimed to create jobs for young people and boost the economy. But operations had to be scaled down due to the Ebola outbreak and administrative constraints.

Zhongke Tianyuan New Energy Technology, based in Guangdong province, stepped in to revive the ailing project.

The company is a provider of bio-energy solutions and has a more than 60 percent market share in China. With more than 100 bioethanol and biobutanol plants, it has a total biofuel production capacity of more than 10 million metric tons a year.

"Green development is a trend not only in China, but also in Africa," said Yu Junwei, the company's chairman, when he announced the deal.

He added that the project is expected to bring returns and increase the incomes of farmers in Sierra Leone.

Oluniyi Robin-Coker, chairman of the board at Sierra Leone Investment and Export Promotion Agency, called the agreement a blessing.

He says Sierra Leone's presence at the forum, held Sept 7 and 8 in Guangzhou, capital of Guangdong province, shows its desire to tap resources in various areas, particularly with a view to helping small and medium-sized enterprises to source financing and grow more competitive.

The new partnership between Zhongke and AOG "will provide more employment for local people and improve transportation in the region", Robin-Coker says, adding that the project will not only focus on the industrial use of sugarcane, but also cassava, a root that can be found in almost every region of the country.

The project has the potential to consume more than 150,000 metric tons of cassava a year, which would boost incomes for local farmers.

"You can't have industrialization without electricity," he says. "Addax Bioenergy produces power for itself and has enough to export to the grid.

"Zhongke's investment is positive for Sierra Leone, as anything that can revive an investment struggling in this difficult economic climate and expand is great news."

The deal follows a meeting between President Ernest Bai Koroma and Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi last year when they discussed Chinese investment in Sierra Leone's public health infrastructure, and mining and industrial cooperation.

For China Daily

(China Daily Africa Weekly 09/16/2016 page26)