Sierra Leone’s Ambassador to the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Permanent Representative to the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) has addressed the ongoing 32nd Meeting of the IRENA Council in the UAE capital, Abu Dhabi on building climate resilient and productive agriculture powered by renewables.
IRENA is the lead intergovernmental agency for the renewables-based energy transition and provides knowledge, technical assistance and capacity building, project and investment facilitation. Over the years, IRENA has collaborated with Sierra Leone to increase the country’s energy access, notably through the construction of a 6-Megawatt solar park in Newton, outskirt of Freetown providing electricity for more than 15,000 people.
In his address, Ambassador Rashid Sesay described agriculture as the backbone of Sierra Leone’s economy employing most of its population, sustaining rural communities, and anchoring national food system. However, he noted that, like many African countries, Sierra Leone’s agricultural potential had long been seriously constrained by limited access to affordable and reliable energy thereby affecting farmers’ ability to efficiently irrigate, competitively operate agro-processors, and grow value chains beyond subsistence levels.
“This is why Sierra Leone has placed renewable energy at the centre of our agricultural transformation agenda. Under President Bio’s leadership, Sierra Leone is advancing a coordinated national strategy that links energy access directly to food security, rural development, and climate adaptation.”
“We are working with private sector partners to expand renewable energy powered cold chain infrastructure, especially for horticulture, fisheries, and livestock. Cold storage is essential for reducing spoilage, improving food safety, and connecting farmers to markets. Renewable energy makes these systems affordable, sustainable, and accessible to rural communities,” he added.
The Permanent Representative also mentioned meaningful progress being made by Sierra Leone including the expansion of solar minigrids in rural communities and ensuring that the systems were designed for productive use to support powering rice mills, cassava graters, cold storage, water pumps, and small agro- processing facilities. He stated that by shifting from consumption to production, renewable energy in Sierra Leone was increasing household incomes, reducing post harvest losses, and stimulating rural enterprises.
The Sierra Leone Envoy said that his country would welcome IRENA’s continued assistance in preparing selected projects and connecting eligible investments with suitable partners through the Climate Investment Platform and the Energy Transition Accelerator Financing Platform noting the importance of collaboration with IRENA and the Council’s role in serving as a critical platform for advancing innovation, technical assistance and investment.
Director-General of IRENA, Francesco La Camera, said that at a time when international cooperation was under strain, IRENA remained a place where countries with different circumstances could work together on shared opportunities. He also assured that the Agency would continue to serve its members with its available resources.
