"The Chinese on the Lion Mountain: Peering Into China’s Evolving Diaspora and Soft Power in Sierra Leone" 15 December 2023

A casino sits on the northwestern tip of Freetown, Sierra Leone, West Africa... The locals call this place “Chinatown,”... The establishment is owned by the Grand Leone Group, the self-proclaimed largest Chinese leisure and entertainment company in the country – and a testament to China’s incredible investments in the country...

...war and poverty have made the country a target for China’s development projects, and with them, spurred the entry of Chinese migrants in search of opportunity...

...According to the embassy, bilateral trade relations between China and Sierra Leone increased from $8.6 million in 2000 to $510 million in 2019, and 4,500 Sierra Leoneans are employed in various Chinese companies around the country...

As with all stories of China-African relations, growing Chinese influence in the region is not without controversy...

In 2021, a $55 million grant to build a Chinese fishing harbor at Black Johnson Beach drew considerable pushback from landowners, conservationists, and human rights groups, who described the project as an “ecological disaster.” Similar complaints have been raised about China’s dominance in the mining industry, including the uncovering of “massive” Chinese-owned illegal mining operations in a protected territory...

...the Sierra Leone government recently signed a new lease agreement with the Kingho Mining Company for the expansion and rehabilitation of the Pepel Railway and Port, granting the Chinese mining giant a 20-year concession of the project...the deal was...cautioned by critics as another Chinese debt trap...