Sierra Leone Telegraph: 23 September 2026: Yesterday, at the Permanent Observer Mission of the African Union to the United Nations in New York, and on the margins of the 81st Session of the UN General Assembly,  William Samoei Ruto, President of the Republic of Kenya and Coordinator of the Committee of African Heads of State and Government on Climate Change (CAHOSCC), convened the Committee to advance Africa’s common position ahead of COP31 in Antalya, Türkiye, and to lay the groundwork for COP32, to be hosted by Ethiopia in 2027. In his remarks, President Ruto underscored that Africa’s climate agenda must now move decisively from commitments to implementation. He called for a renewed focus on climate finance, adaptation, resilience, renewable energy, clean cooking and climate-positive growth, stressing that Africa must help close the widening gap between global climate pledges and delivery. He highlighted the need to translate the commitments on adaptation...

Sierra Leone Telegraph: 23 September 2026: As the region continues to grapple with recurring outbreaks of highly infectious diseases such as Ebola, the East African Community (EAC) is stepping up efforts to ensure every Partner State has frontline health workers equipped with the capacity to detect, contain and clinically manage high-consequence infectious diseases such as Ebola. As part of these efforts, the EAC, with support from the Government of Germany, has 120 doctors, nurses and other frontline health professionals from all eight EAC Partner States undergoing specialised training this week in Nairobi, Kenya, to strengthen their preparedness and response to high-consequence infectious disease outbreaks. The training is being conducted under the Training in the East African Community for High-Consequence Infectious Diseases (tEACh) programme, an initiative between the EAC and the German Agency for International Cooperation (GIZ). This week’s training is one of a series of tEACh training workshops, that will...

Sierra Leone Telegraph: 23 September 2026: Home to 28 shared river basins covering nearly 71 percent of its total land area, one of the highest levels of water interdependence anywhere in the world, West Africa opened a defining chapter in its water governance calendar in Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire, on 22 September 2026, as the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), the West African Economic and Monetary Union (UEMOA) and the Permanent Interstate Committee for Drought Control in the Sahel (CILSS) convened the 13th Ordinary Session of the Technical Experts Committee of the Permanent Framework for Coordination and Monitoring (PCMF) of Integrated Water Resources Management (IWRM). Over the two days, national focal points and technical delegations from the fifteen West African States, transboundary basin organisations, technical and financial partners, and civil society representatives will review the implementation status of regional resolutions and formulated recommendations for the 6th Ordinary Session of...

Sierra Leone Telegraph: 23 September 2026: The African Development Bank (AfDB) and the Global Community Engagement and Resilience Fund (GCERF) have signed a Letter of Intent to establish a framework for closer cooperation, aligning community-led prevention efforts with development investment in fragile and conflict-affected settings across Africa. The Letter of Intent was signed on Monday 21 September on the margins of the 81st Session of the United Nations General Assembly, by Ms Marie-Laure Akin-Olugbade, Senior Vice President of the African Development Bank Group and Mr Stefano Manservisi, Chair of the GCERF Governing Board. The signing took place at the African Union’s Permanent Observer Mission to the United Nations in New York. By bringing together GCERF’s community-level knowledge and local partnerships with the African Development Bank’s analytical expertise and operational reach, this partnership unlocks new opportunities to connect local communities with development finance, investment and economic opportunity. The two organisations share...

Sierra Leone Telegraph: 23 September 2026: The U.S. Trade and Development Agency is strengthening power infrastructure along the Lobito Corridor, a strategic logistics route in Central and Southern Africa vital to diversifying America’s critical minerals supply chains. (Photo above: L – R Thomas R. Hardy, USTDA Deputy Director and Brian Kelly, Anzana Electric Group CEO). Yesterday, on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) High-Level Week, USTDA signed an agreement with Anzana Electric Group Limited (Anzana) to fund a feasibility study to expand hydropower generation and upgrade electricity distribution networks across the Lualaba Province in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and the North-Western province of Zambia. The project will improve power reliability for copper and cobalt mining operations and for more than three million residents of the region. “Reliable power allows mines to operate, businesses to profit, and families to thrive,” said Thomas R. Hardy, USTDA’s Deputy...

Sierra Leone Telegraph: 23 September 2026: The inaugural Alamein Africa Forum will take place from October 2-4 in the historic city of Alamein on Egypt’s Mediterranean coast in parallel with the 2026 African Union mid-year summit. Established in response to a mandate from the African Union, which called for a permanent African Business Forum to convene biennially in Egypt, the inaugural edition will bring together Heads of State and official delegations as well as some key actors in business and finance. The forum is to become the continent’s premier gathering where political power meets entrepreneurial prowess, bridging the established engines of African growth with the new sectors defining its future. The Presidents of Algeria, Angola, Burundi, Chad, Equatorial Guinea, Ghana, Libya, Senegal, Somalia, and South Africa are expected in Alamein as well as President Al Sisi, President of the Arab Republic of Egypt who is the host of this year’s...

Sierra Leone Telegraph: 23 September 2026: Africa must stop sending its capital abroad and start investing in its own industrial future, Aliko Dangote, President and CEO of Dangote Group, told global business leaders at Unstoppable Africa 2026 yesterday, as he set out an ambitious vision for African industrialization backed by billions of dollars in investment, new refining capacity, and broader public ownership. Pointing to Asia’s economic rise, he argued that Africa cannot build comparable industrial strength while its own money continues to flow into foreign banks and markets. Emphasizing the importance of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) in creating the scale required for major industrial projects, he noted, “We must believe in our continent,” urging businesses to stay focused despite the challenges involved in building major organizations in Africa. “Once you start, it gets easier. But the more you don’t do anything, it becomes difficult.” With more than...

US President Donald Trump addresses the 81st United Nations General Assembly at UN headquarters in New York City, US, September 22, 2026. REUTERS/MIKE SEGAR Sierra Leone Telegraph: 23 September 2026: At a ceremony at UN Headquarters in New York, on 21 September, H.E. Selma Malika Haddadi, Deputy Chairperson of the African Union Commission, and Mr. Atul Khare, Under-Secretary-General for Operational Support, signed the renewed Memorandum of Intent on cooperation in operational support and Memorandum of Understanding on the Knowledge and Expertise Exchange Programme (KEEP). Both Ms. Haddadi and Mr. Khare underscored the importance of moving beyond coordination towards greater strategic alignment, shared priorities and practical cooperation. They highlighted sustained knowledge exchange, institutional capacity development and strong operational support systems as essential to strengthening the AU’s ability to plan, deploy and sustain peace support operations. “As a global and continental challenges become increasingly complex our corporation must continue to evolve from...

Albert David KAMARA: Sierra Leone Telegraph: 15 September 2026: President Julius Maada Bio says hi Government needs US$61 million to conduct the 2026 Population and Housing Census. For a country with about 9 million people, this number is shockingly high. It means the census will cost about US$7 per person counted, one of the highest per‑person census costs in West Africa. When you compare Sierra Leone to other African countries, the difference is disturbing: Ghana with a population around 31 million, spent about US$2.7 per person counted. Kenya with a population around 47 million spent about US$3.8 per person counted. Sierra Leone, a low‑income country with GDP per capita under US$900, is now flirting with one of the highest per‑capita census costs in the region. This is not statistical planning, this is fiscal acrobatics. Sierra Leone’s GDP per capita is around US$846 (2025), and agrowing young population. Median age is...

Lawrence Williams: Sierra Leone Telegraph: 15 September 2026: President Julius Maada Bio has referred the Constitutional (Amendment) Bill to the Supreme Court for a judicial opinion, citing the need for constitutional clarity and national consensus on the Bill. “It is the President’s considered view that the passage of such an important Bill, touching on the constitutional and democratic foundations of the Republic, requires broad national consensus and must be underpinned by constitutional clarity,” a government statement reads. The government described the move as “unprecedented” and said it reflects the president’s commitment to ensuring that “matters of profound national importance are handled with due diligence, transparency and fidelity to our constitution.” The passage of the Bill has been the subject of intense public debates, with civil society, legal experts and political actors raising concerns over its implications for Sierra Leone’s democratic governance, following a televised row in parliament which saw the...