Sierra Leone National Strategy for Critical Minerals 2026–2031

Mechanism

The National Strategy for Critical Minerals 2026-2031 is Sierra Leone's first cross-cutting national industrial-policy framework for the minerals sector. It was developed by the Ministry of Mines and Mineral Resources (MMMR) in coordination with the National Minerals Agency (NMA), operationalising the Mines and Minerals Act 2009 (as amended), and was officially launched at Sierra Leone Mining Week 2026 (19-23 May 2026, Freetown International Conference Centre, Aberdeen).

The strategy's five headline commitments are:

1. USD 2.5 billion in exploration and mining investment attracted over 2026-2031 2. 3-5 mineral-processing plants established to shift from raw-mineral export to value-added production 3. 45,000 direct and indirect jobs created and 15,000 skilled workers trained 4. USD 300 million+ in annual government revenue generated from critical-minerals operations 5. USD 1.5 billion in annual value-added mineral exports achieved by 2031

The mineral scope is broad: lithium, graphite, bauxite, cobalt, coltan, rutile, diamonds, iron ore, and rare-earth elements. Vice President Jalloh's framing -- "from extraction to transformation, from reliance on royalties to real value capture" -- and Minister Mattai's "Mattai Effect" branding position the strategy explicitly within the EM upstream-capture paradigm.

Sierra Leone is a top-3 global natural-rutile producer (supplying ~25% of global demand via Sierra Rutile Ltd, formerly Iluka/WPM subsidiary, now Leonoil-controlled), holds significant iron-ore reserves (Marampa, Tonkolili), and is an emerging lithium-pegmatite and coltan exploration jurisdiction. The strategy's processing-plant commitment is directly material to global rutile-derivative supply chains (titanium pigment + aerospace-grade titanium sponge feedstock).

Downstream implications

• First Sierra Leone IPTM filing -- opens a new sub-Saharan Africa jurisdiction with ~USD 1.3bn

in 2024 mineral exports (~25% of GDP per IMF 2024 Article IV report).

• West-African resource-sovereignty cadence -- follows Ghana Gold Board Act (2025-04-02), Ghana Minerals

Commission licence revocations (2026-02-18), Ghana Ewoyaa lithium lease ratification (2026-03-19), and Nigeria's solid-minerals agenda (2023-09-01), completing a West-African critical-minerals policy cohort.

• Bilateral-framework precursor -- Sierra Leone now has a domestic strategy document, the standard

precondition for bilateral MOUs with the US (FORGE programme), UK (FCDO critical-minerals fund), and EU (Global Gateway). The 2026-02-04 US Critical Minerals Ministerial FORGE cohort each held domestic frameworks before signing; Sierra Leone is now positioned for similar bilateral engagement.

• Rutile supply-chain exposure -- Sierra Rutile supplies ~25% of global natural rutile, which is the

primary feedstock for titanium pigment (TiO2) and aerospace titanium sponge. Processing-plant mandates could shift value-add capture upstream and affect Tronox, Venator, and Chemours as downstream pigment producers.

• Severity basis: mixed -- quantitative targets (USD 2.5bn investment, USD 1.5bn exports, 45,000 jobs)

are specific and government-endorsed; implementation pathway (processing plants, investment facilitation) remains to be operationalised through subsequent regulations and investment agreements.

Open questions

• Which specific legislation or regulation will operationalise the processing-plant mandate?
• Will the MMMR follow Ghana's model (mandatory local-content equity stakes) or Kenya's model

(royalty-rate differential for processed vs. raw exports)?

• Will the US FORGE programme or UK FCDO Critical Minerals Partnership include Sierra Leone as

a next-cohort bilateral framework partner?

• Does the strategy include a specific lithium-sector governance instrument, or will a separate

lithium strategy follow (as Ghana did with Ewoyaa + the Gold Board separately)?