The Problem

The World Bank Group notes that a stable legal and regulatory environment is a leading factor driving decisions to invest in developing countries. Investment has been identified as a key variable determining economic growth, however, protections against regulatory risks are essential to increasing direct foreign investment and promoting growth in developing countries.

WHI's Solution 

FIRST STEP – a subsidiary of World Hope International (WHI) – is enriching lives in Sierra Leone through economic investment, transformation and community empowerment. By creating a Special Economic Zone (SEZ), FIRST STEP is providing opportunities for foreign direct investment in Sierra Leone under a 2009 ratified public private partnership agreement with the Government of Sierra Leone. 

FIRST STEP is developing 50 acres of land to lease to companies seeking to process Sierra Leone’s natural resources for sale in Sierra Leone or export. FIRST STEP’s agreement as an SEZ allows businesses that lease land to access special duty and tax incentives as well as many other incentives needed to help companies do business in Sierra Leone. Additionally, First Step provides counsel and support for companies interested establishing a business in Sierra Leone.

The Impact 

Through WHI, FIRST STEP is able to benefit from extensive in-country experience, allowing the organization to reduce both the risks and costs associated with establishing export processes. WHI has identified specific economic development opportunities for the people of Sierra Leone and designed programs that work in tandem with FIRST STEP efforts.

FIRST STEP’s SEZ model has a proven success record that now, post-Ebola, it hopes to duplicate with its new tenant, Sierra Coffee Mills, who will put Sierra Leone on the gourmet coffee world map. Sierra Coffee Mills will teach small holder farmers in Sierra Leone – many of whom live on less than $2 a day – a new way to process their coffee that adds value in-country. Thanks to this “first in country” coffee processing facility, farmers in Sierra Leone will be able to earn a higher income.