International impact investor Acumen and the UK funded private sector programme Invest Salone have revised the Investment Toolkit for SMEs in Sierra Leone for 2025, marking another step forward in strengthening Sierra Leone’s entrepreneurial landscape.
This updated toolkit offers essential insights for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) aiming to become investment-ready and attract impact investors.
What’s new in the updated toolkit?
- Enhanced guidance on identifying and closing “common gaps” faced by SMEs in Sierra Leone – in areas like legal and regulatory compliance, financial reporting and commercial viability – and recommendations on how these gaps can be addressed
- Investment instruments breakdown, helping SMEs understand the language of investment and navigate their financing options with clarity
- Comprehensive investment readiness checklists to assess key decision-making areas such as business valuation, licensing, financial accuracy, scalability, management capabilities and impact potential
- Links to other resources and practical tools tailored for the needs of businesses in Sierra Leone’s evolving entrepreneurial ecosystem
Accelerators, incubators, impact investors and SMEs can make use of these comprehensive resources to help maximise early-stage investments in Sierra Leone’s entrepreneurial ecosystem. Businesses can harness crucial insights from impact investing best practices, along with some of the key practices from the world of commercial investment, to create a structured and rigorous approach tailored to the specific needs of companies in Sierra Leone.
Pooja Melwani, an investment advisor with Invest Salone, states that the updated investment toolkit offers SMEs in Sierra Leone valuable technical resources informed by previous investment pipeline development experiences. “By addressing prevalent challenges and offering tailored resources, it equips businesses to enhance their appeal to impact investors, thereby fostering sustainable growth and development within the entrepreneurial ecosystem,” she added.
Download a copy of the Investment Toolkit for SMEs in Sierra Leone from Invest Salone’s website to explore practical strategies for strengthening investment readiness and attracting sustainable capital.
