Fish Landing Sites

In 2010, four fish landing sites in Goderich, Tombo, Shenge and Bonthe were constructed by the African Development Fund (ADF) to support Sierra Leone’s fishing industry. Despite their potential to strengthen local livelihoods and improve access to fish, the facilities remained largely unused for several years due to challenges in operational management and maintenance.

Following a competitive tender process, Aurora Foundation, together with KIMI SARL, entered into a ten-year Public-Private Partnership (PPP) agreement with the Government of Sierra Leone to rehabilitate and operationalise the facilities. A new company, Neptune, was established specifically to manage the initiative.

The project aimed to strengthen local capacity in fisheries management, fish processing and marketing, while promoting the sustainable use of marine resources and increasing the value of local catches. The landing sites also had the potential to create employment and improve access to fish, an important source of protein for the population.

As part of the initiative, Aurora and its partners refurbished all four landing sites and commenced operations, including the sale of ice to local fishermen and fish processing at two of the sites. However, as implementation progressed, it became clear that some of the initial assumptions underpinning the project did not hold, and the operating model proved financially and practically unviable. Despite the efforts invested in establishing the facilities, the project could not develop into a sustainable operation.

In 2017, Aurora Foundation therefore decided to withdraw from the partnership. Although the initiative did not achieve its intended long-term objectives, it provided valuable experience in developing public-private partnerships and highlighted the importance of thoroughly assessing operational and commercial conditions when establishing community-based infrastructure projects.