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President Dr. Julius Maada Bio has officially opened the Climate Resilience and Energy Transition Dialogue (CRET) 2025 at the Freetown International Conference Centre, welcoming distinguished guests and stakeholders under the theme “Mobilizing Investments for Climate Action, Food Security, Clean Cooking, and Just Energy Transition for All,” on Monday, 20 October 2025.
President Bio noted that the CRET Dialogue reaffirms Sierra Leone’s commitment to bold, inclusive discussions on climate action, energy security, and food systems transformation. The event attracted global, regional, and national experts, including policymakers, private sector leaders, and civil society organizations.
He recalled the 2024 OPEC Fund Investment Roundtable, which positioned Sierra Leone as an emerging destination for green investment. Those engagements culminated in a US$260 million funding package from the OPEC Fund for International Development (OFID), including a US$200,000 grant to establish a Climate Finance and Energy Innovation Hub.
The funding, formalized through a Country Partnership Framework (CPF) agreement, will support key sectors such as agriculture, infrastructure, energy, and water management aligning with Sierra Leone’s Medium-Term National Development Plan 2024–2030 and the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
“Today, CRET 2025 consolidates these developments and institutional gains to operationalize our Just Energy Transition and Green Growth Plan, mobilizing national and international stakeholders to accelerate Sierra Leone’s energy transition,” President Bio stated.
Key initiatives to be launched include the Mission 300 Sierra Leone Compact, National Clean Cooking Strategy, ECOWAS LPG 20/20 Programme, OFID CPF Agreement, Climate Finance and Energy Innovation Hub, Multi-Year Tariff Order Tool, SLEWRC Mini-Grid Regulations 2025, SLEWRC Act 2025, and the Salone Off-Grid Renewable Energy Acceleration Project (SOGREA).
“CRET 2025 will deliver knowledge, explore private sector investment opportunities, and map the way forward for a credible carbon trading system while sustaining commitments to Feed Salone and accelerating energy transition across the country,” the President added.
