Strengthening Sierra Leone’s private sector and increasing investment are central to the UK government’s partnership with the Government of Sierra Leone. Helping businesses become investment ready is an important step in that process.
Businesses seeking investment need more than a strong idea or ambitious growth plans. Investors also look for sound governance, financial management, operational capability and responsible business practices. Understanding where a business stands and what areas need strengthening, is often the first step to becoming investment ready.
To help businesses, Invest Salone, with support from the UK Government, and in collaboration with British International Investment (BII) through the Africa Resilience Investment Accelerator (ARIA), which is co-funded by FMO and Proparco, has developed three practical resources: the Sierra Leone Investment Toolkit, an Investment Readiness Scorecard and a Business Advisor Directory.
At the heart of the initiative is the Investment Readiness Scorecard, a simple, anonymous, online self-assessment that enables businesses to evaluate where they are on their investment journey. Based on their responses, businesses are placed in one of three stages of investment readiness and receive guidance on the areas they should prioritise to improve their investment proposition. The assessment is designed as a diagnostic tool for businesses and does not store or collect user data.
The accompanying Investment Toolkit provides practical guidance on the areas investors typically consider most important, including governance, financial management, business strategy, operations, environmental and social management, and legal and regulatory compliance. Rather than acting as an assessment for investors, the toolkit helps businesses understand what investment readiness looks like and provides practical steps to build the systems and capabilities that underpin sustainable growth.
The third resource, the Business Advisor Directory, provides information on professional service providers operating in Sierra Leone. It serves as a practical starting point to help businesses identify relevant expertise to support them as they prepare for investment but is not exhaustive and does not constitute endorsement of any provider.
Together, these resources provide businesses with a practical way to assess, improve and become more investment ready. They are designed not only for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) seeking investment, but also for transaction advisors, business development service providers and others working to strengthen Sierra Leone’s private sector ecosystem.
The resources were informed by feedback from workshops with Sierra Leonean SMEs, ensuring they reflect the practical challenges businesses face as they grow and seek investment. They also build on experience from similar investment readiness initiatives implemented elsewhere, while being tailored to Sierra Leone’s business environment.
Pooja Melwani, Invest Salone, said:
Every business is at a different stage of its investment journey, and understanding where you are is the first step towards becoming investment ready. These resources help businesses assess their current position, identify gaps, and access practical guidance to strengthen their investment proposition. As our programme comes to a close this year, we are pleased to leave behind a lasting resource that will continue supporting Sierra Leonean businesses on their journey to attracting investment.
Alex Kucharski, Director of Market Creation, BII Plus, said:
These three resources help businesses better understand whether they are ready for investment, identify which investors might be right for them, and showcase the local advisory ecosystem that can support them as they look to grow. We are pleased to have worked closely with Invest Salone through the ARIA platform to support Sierra Leone’s investment ecosystem. This reflects BII’s commitment to taking a more hands-on approach in frontier markets, helping to strengthen the conditions that enable businesses to attract investment.
Explore the resources
About Invest Salone
Invest Salone is a UK-funded, private sector development programme that boosts investment in key sectors in Sierra Leone by strengthening the pipeline of investible firms and projects; supporting firms to grow their exports; and helping the private and public sectors to find lasting solutions to investment blockages that hamper business growth.
About British International Investment
British International Investment is the UK’s development finance institution and impact investor. The organisation invests in businesses in developing countries to improve people’s lives and help protect the planet. BII’s work targets the underlying causes of poverty and the climate crisis, helping countries break free from aid dependency for good.
Between 2026-2031, at least 40 per cent of BII’s total new commitments by value will be in climate finance. BII is also a founding member of the 2X Challenge which raised over $33 billion between 2018-2023 to empower women’s economic development. The company has investments in nearly 1,700 businesses and total net assets of £9.88 billion. For more information, visit: www.bii.co.uk | watch here. Follow British International Investment on LinkedIn, Bluesky and X.
About ARIA
The Africa Resilience Investment Accelerator (ARIA) supports the long-term growth of frontier markets across the African continent. ARIA does this by working closely with development finance institutions and local businesses to help mobilise capital to where it is needed. ARIA currently operate in seven markets: Benin, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Ethiopia, Guinea, Liberia, Sierra Leone and Togo. The platform is funded by British International Investment, FMO and Proparco.
