On 18 September 2020, Invest Salone hosted a Development Finance Institution (DFI) Roundtable, one of the first of its kind in Sierra Leone. This high-level discussion provided a collaborative platform for DFIs to build on their agenda in the country together with Invest Salone.
The DFIs present demonstrated a range of commitments and activities in sectors such as agriculture, infrastructure, financial services, health, manufacturing, construction, real estate and education. They communicated their intent to deploy a variety of investment and programme mechanisms, including debt, equity and institutional investment.
A number of common themes emerged in terms of the challenges faced by DFIs, including the need to enable a better investment climate, challenges in identifying high potential deal flow, and overcoming perceptions around risk.
During the roundtable, Invest Salone highlighted its current and forthcoming work in supporting deal flow and building a platform for dialogue with both the public and private sector, as well as its support for the long-term growth of Sierra Leonean businesses.
The roundtable was seen as a very positive first step in aligning efforts and ensuring Invest Salone’s work creates the maximum impact, through leveraging the excellent efforts of DFIs in Sierra Leone.
