Sierra Leone is a country of 7 million people in West Africa. It emerged from a decade of civil war in 2002 near the bottom of the UN Development Index and with a huge need for reconstruction, but with the potential to unlock the wealth of its resources. Its democratically-elected government continues the task of rebuilding the infrastructure of the country and delivering economic growth and jobs, turning the country's natural wealth into a benefit for its people.
We established Fair Deal Sierra Leone in 2010 to help Sierra Leone's Government respond more effectively to growing volumes of foreign investment. Since then, we have provided the Government with more than £7.5 million worth of pro bono legal advice in support of the delivery of recovery, growth and sustainable development.
We treat the Government of Sierra Leone like any other key global client, with a full relationship team around it and with access to all of our expertise. Our lawyers have acted for the Government on landmark deals across a range of sectors – ensuring that Sierra Leone has fair representation at the negotiating table with international investors – and have helped to bolster the rule of law through advice on key policy and legislative reforms.
Our support also has also included the secondment of our lawyers to the President's Office and the Attorney General's Office in Freetown, and the reverse-secondment of lawyers from the Government to our offices in London.
Whether in Freetown or from one of our offices around the globe, we are committed to supporting Sierra Leone, and to working closely with development partners and other members of the private sector in doing so. Our online guide to investing in Sierra Leone, which we produced with Standard Chartered Bank, Prudential and the UK and Sierra Leonean Governments in response to the Ebola crisis in 2014/15, is just one example of our collaborative efforts.
For further information on the work of our secondees, please visit Stories from Herbert Smith Freehills' secondees in Freetown, Sierra Leone.