SEI looks at community impacts of Addax Bioenergy in Sierra Leone

In Sweden, a new report from the Stockhold Environment Institute, Agricultural Investment and Rural Transformation: A Case Study of the Makeni Bioenergy Project in Sierra Leone, examines the Makeni Project, developed by Addax Bioenergy Sierra Leone (ABSL), as a window into the complex dynamics of bioenergy and agricultural investment in sub-Saharan Africa. ABSL has said it wants the Makeni Project to be “a benchmark for sustainable investment in Africa”, and it has secured funding from eight development finance institutions (DFIs). In 2013, the project was the first in Africa to be certified by the Roundtable on Sustainable Biomaterials. This report places the Makeni Project in the context of Sierra Leone’s development challenges and strategies to address them. It looks at the project through the lens of “rural transformation” – the notion that eradicating poverty and achieving sustainable development requires a transformation of rural spaces, economies and societies that empowers rural people.