News

One of the world's leading asset management firms, BlackRock, has agreed to pay London Mining $110m, in return for a share of the company's future iron ore production, according to a press release issued on behalf of the company.

The release quotes London Mining as saying on Monday that BlackRock, through its listed World Mining Trust, will receive 2 % of iron ore revenues from the Marampa mine in Sierra Leone.  The royalty agreement will help fund expansion of its flagship project to 9 million tonnes a year.

A senior Sierra Leonean oil official says that oil company Prontinal Limited met its exploration obligations on an oil block now operated by Canada-based Talisman Energy.

The comments [last] week by Adekunle King, the legal officer of the West African state's Petroleum Directorate, contradict a previous statement made in June by the then acting director general of the directorate, Raymond Kargbo.

Kargbo had said in June that Talisman took over a majority stake in the block after Prontinal had failed to proceed with exploration.

More than a dozen soldiers attacked a reporter and a graphic designer both working for Awoko newspaper, a Sierra Leone daily, according to a press release from the Sierra Leone Association of Journalists (SLAJ).

The oldest university college in Sub Saharan Africa, Sierra Leone’s Fourah Bay College, has for the second year running had to suspend its end-of-year examinations, amid a heavy presence of riot police on campus who have set up checkpoints.

A press release from the Registrar of the University of Sierra Leone, Sorie N. Dumbuya says the suspension is indefinite and is due to student disturbances on campus. But the college Exams Officer, Munda Lebbie told Politico he knew “nothing about it”.

Sierra Leone's Minister of Defence, Pallo Conteh was beaten today by ex-combatants right in front of his office which is the country's defence headquarters situated less than 50 metres from State House which is the office of the country's president.

The Court of the University of Sierra Leone has upheld the expulsion of one student and the rustication of 28 others, which was a recommendation of the Special Disciplinary Committee set up to look into various offences committed in May this year by Fourah Bay College students.

This means that the affected students must discontinue their examinations which are currently underway.

Their offences include illegally occupying the college hostels, physically attacking the Warden of Students and insubordination to the Deputy Vice Chancellor of the college.

The Coordinator of the civil society organisation, Campaign for Good Governance says the increase in nomination fees for candidates in November’s elections is a “setback” for women and youth intending to contest.