Addax Bioenergy Sierra Leone Ltd is a subsidiary of Addax & Oryx, a Swiss-based energy corporation. In 2010, the company acquired lease rights for 50 years (with the possibility of a 21-year extension) to over 15,000 ha of land in Bombali District, Northern Province, Sierra Leone, for a bioethanol operation for export to European markets. The project entails rice fields, sugar cane plantation, a palm oil plantation, a refinery, and a bioethanol plant. Over half of the investment in the project was provided by development banks, including the Swedfund and the African Development Bank. Rain Forest Rescue condemned the project, writing to potential public financiers, calling the project a land grab, and promising protests if the project continued – which it did, under the approval of the President of Sierra Leone. In 2011 workers staged strikes protesting lack of drinking water, discrimination, and marginalization at the hands of the company. The Farmer Development Program (FDP), a program the company instigated to mitigate loss of livelihood, has not proven to be effective as it expires after 3 years and focuses on monoculture rice rather than traditional multi-culture food crops. A 2011 report by the Switzerland based Pain pour le Prochain uncovered a number of fiscal exemptions, social and environmental impacts and illegitimate agreements with local authorities that contradict the companys efforts to paint its project as socially and environmentally responsible. |