Q. The first question I want to ask you is about the history of the company. Could you introduce us and our readers to Sierra Fishing Company, because it is more than just a company here in Sierra Leone!

A. Sierra Fishing Company was founded in 1976 and it was a company founded with government participation who owned 37% shares and all the others shareholders were Sierra Leoneans. In 1979 Sierra Fishing Company came to an agreement with the Russian government through the Sierra Leone government and they did the first fishing studies in Sierra Leone to assess the fish stocks and they had a fleet of around 200 vessels initially which was not only in Sierra Leone, but also in Guinea, Mauritania… all these countries at that time. So that's how Sierra Fishing started with the Russian fleet. And by the mid eighties Sierra Fishing Company launched its own fleet around 20 shrimpers. It was the biggest company at that time in West Africa in terms of infrastructure and sales, etc. A lot of foreign investors at that time wanted to purchase a fishing company but Sierra Fishing Company wanted to maintain the local based fishing company. The only foreign participation in Sierra Fishing Company was Fransov which was a soviet government affiliated French company that had 20%. Of course they were the biggest employers, after the government, and they had from 3.000 to 4.000 employees and they were the highest income tax payers and the highest foreign exchange earner of the government. Unfortunately in 1984 due to political shifts in the government the founder of the company had to leave the country and came back in 1996. And then in 1996 the government sold the shares as well as many other shareholders like the National Development Bank that sold it too. The majority of the company is owned by JS Mohamed & Sons. The company from 1985 onwards came down, one because of mismanagement and the beginning of the war and most of the fleets were destroyed and most of the infrastructure was in a bad state. The new management took over the company in 1999 and in 2000 we went to operations again. Up to that period all the existing cold rooms have been rehabilitated and installed ice plants and started a big fresh fish business. We have reopened the depots country wide in Bo, Kenema, Kono, Makeni, Kambia, Moyamba… We are on the expansion and continuing to open in other districts cold rooms for the distribution of fish. We have also finished our feasibility studies to open a brand new processing plant to EU Standards or international standards, but let's say EU standards because they have one of the highest international standards.

Q. In terms of figures, to what extent have you been able to relaunch the company in such a short term?

A. When we started operating again we were selling 100 to 150 T of fish now we have reached the 1000 T mark a month, it all goes to the local market. The pre-war records were 3000 T locally. It is important to say that in the fishing sector 60% of the needs of the country are provided by artisanal fishermen. It is only the remaining 40% that is provided by industrial fishing companies such as we are. In terms of turnover, the company last year made 8.4 billion Leones (around 3.6 million USD at the current rate), this year we envisage 12 billion Leones. (around 5.2 million USD at the current rate) Last month we have started reopening our export markets and we have strong indications that we will reach the 12 billion Leones level. The export markets are the main turnover generators for the company. It does not mean that we are going to neglect the local market, it is still a very lucrative market but it has certain limits. It has helped us to develop to this stage, but now it is time for us to look beyond the national boundaries and to target the international markets.

Q. What kind of assistance can a company of your importance get from the authorities?

A. Initially the Ministry of Fisheries and Marine Resources has given us a lot of moral and administrative support. They also help us to establish ties with the few foreign fishing companies that come, they refer them to us. We are kind of a starting point for them since we have the best facilities in the country, and we have quite a big operation in the country. From our side we are also co-operating with the Ministry. Our on shore landing is 100%, which affects the economy directly; we are generating a lot of jobs. There are a lot of complaints from the Ministry to most of the foreign companies since they don't create jobs, they do most of their operations offshore and they don't involve the locals in their operations. We are changing that, we are bringing the industry back on shore. In the year 1999 we started with 30 employees and now we have around 300 employees including casuals, we have 178 permanent workers and the balance is contract workers.

Q. The Investment Code is being elaborated now, what kind of help and advice can you give to the Ministry when talking about the fisheries sector?

A. The Ministry of Fisheries and Marine Resources did ask us for advice. Our main input was that all the packaging materials, spare parts, fishing gears should be allowed to be imported on a duty free basis.

A. Previously, in the 80s Sierra Fishing Company did most of the surveillance of the sea for the country. We had a monoplane through an affiliated company and they also had a number of patrol boats and it was very effective. At that time the main poachers were coming from Liberia, which is something that has re emerged now. A lot of trawlers are taking license in Liberia, because it costs the third of a price of what it costs here, but they are still coming over to fish here. Right now, I m not in the position to do my own surveillance, we are just trying to build our own fleet again and upon establishing my fleet I will definitely start doing surveillance for my own vessels. Even for my vessels there is a risk of them selling the catch at sea.
In terms of national surveillance the Government is looking into it and my advice to them is that they should bring two companies, in order to create competition between them. This is very important for the country, because it affects also the investors.

Q. You also have a national expansion strategy of building cold rooms and bringing the necessary infrastructure to store fish into the regions. Could you elaborate on that please?

A. Initially we tried to bring the fish into the whole country, and the Ministry was also very much encouraging that plan. We already had this concept before so I only needed to rehabilitate these cold rooms. In some areas I just needed to change the generators in other areas I put containers, as temporary solutions. Within the immediate future I have contacted a French company to make a survey for me in terms of permanent fixed cold rooms and I think that within this year we will definitely start that phase of establishing cold rooms in every province. I am also trying to build a new processing plant, which is quite a big investment, it's around 700.000 Euro. This is my priority now, it will be ready in the next 5 to 6 month and after that I will start investing more into the permanent cold rooms in the regions.
The objective of developing the site here in Freetown is to meet the standards, in order to export our fish to the European, American and the Asian market. We already have a processing plant here but it does not meet the required standards. The new factory will also have its own laboratory here to carry out its own tests. The plant will be quite big; it will be able to process 20 metric tons of frozen fish and around 10 tons of fresh fish a day with a holding capacity of 60 tons. This will be essential since I have a lot of enquiries from fresh-fish vessels that are coming in and I have also purchased my own 3 fresh-fish vessels from Egypt. The government is also very interested in developing the fresh-fish market; it is definitely a more lucrative business. However, as long as the EU ban on Sierra Leonean fish exists, we can not do direct shipments and fresh fish is something that has to be dealt with very rapidly, within 5 or 6 days. You have to consider it, because fishing takes 3 days, so it has to go immediately into the plane and to the market.

Q. What are the challenges that one has to face when looking for partners from Sierra Leone?

A. The first issue that we have to face is that we lack capital; the interest rates in the banks are over 20% that is serious problem when trying to develop your company. I had to look for external help when I was looking for financing for my new processing plant. I am also in discussions with the First Discount House, we don't have a stock exchange yet, they are providing equity. The plan is that I will sell 25% of the company's shares to the public. This is an initiative that the company will take at the beginning of next year. There is a certain demand, but the First Discount House might not sell the shares to the people, it might be sold to the banks, because it's only the banks that have the money. For me the important thing is that I will save myself from taking a loan that will cost me 20%. This will not be something new for the company, since before we had the National Development Bank as one of the shareholders.

Q. Could you tell us from a personal perspective, how do you see the development of the company?

A. It was my father who started the business. It was not his primary business; he was in trading and the diamond business. Through his contacts he was pulled into this investment and at the beginning he did not believe in it. Later it turned out to be his major investment. I also have a personal interest, since I like fishing, diving, etc. When I came back to Sierra Leone in 1996, I only worked for a year, then the coup happened, I was the deputy financial controller at the time. I took over the position of the managing director in March 2003. I had to start from scratch, the company was in heavy debt and it is only through hard work and dedication that we managed to reach the level where we are at right now. We are still trying to reach our previous status, locally we managed, but internationally there is still a lot to be done.

Q. What would you like people to know internationally about Sierra Fishing Company?

A. First of all we have a very important socio-economic impact on the development of the country, we provide jobs and we provide the people with fish, and of course it is also a very good business. People don't invest their money on a charity basis; they do it in order to get profit. The country has very good laws, and a very strong legal system, that protects investors. We have huge fish and shrimp stocks, which is really untapped. We are really looking forward to European companies to come and fish here, because they have good technology, they will bring more benefits than the ones that are already here. I would very much like to see new European companies coming here with their trawlers or fishing fleets. As long as it is done in a sensible way there is no problem and there is still a lot of space to be filled in.