Sierra Leone’s Parliament has on the 12th October,2023 approved the appointment of Dr Abu-Bakarr Massaquoi as Executive Chairman of the Environment Protection Agency (EPA).

He becomes the Fourth Executive Chairman of the Environment Protection Agency of Sierra Leone by section 14 (1) of the Environment Protection Agency Act, 2022, as was appointed on the 25th of August 2023, by President Bio.

The decision was made after securing overwhelming approval from the Appointment Committee of Parliament on 10th October.

His profile reads; ‘’Dr. Abu-Bakar S. Massaquoi is a sustainability transitions (complex adaptive systems and transformative futures) and resilience thinking expert with 15 years of local and international experience and a broad depth of renewable energy, environmental management, international development, and climate systems knowledge.

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He previously led teams for assignments commissioned by various governments (e.g., the Ministry of Environment, Forestry, and Climate Change in Ethiopia, the Federal Ministry of Science and Technology in Nigeria, etc.) and international development organisations in the region (including FCDO, USAID West Africa, USDA Forest Service Intl Programmes, UNCCD, UNICEF, ECOWAS, Global Challenges Research Fund, Global Centre on Adaptation, Tetra Tech ARD, African Forest Forum, Wetlands International Africa, the World Bank Group, Expertise France, etc), leaving a footprint in more than 20 countries.

Abu-Bakar co-designed the AMCEN/AGN Africa Adaptation and Loss and Damage Initiative, and co-led AfDB’s project for the analysis of adaptation components of NDCs implemented in 50 African countries and the review of the utility of the Adaptation Benefit Mechanism (ABM) in 6 countries.

He managed the network of universities, research institutes, and think tanks that implemented the Governing Inclusive Green Growth in Africa (GIGGA) programme in Kenya, Nigeria, Ethiopia, the U.K., and India; and was the Country Team Lead for the USAID STOP Spillover Programme in Sierra Leone. He was also UNDP GEF Small Grants Programme’s first Coordinator in Sierra Leone (the catalyst behind what UNDP Independent Evaluators considered one of the fastest SGP starts and most successful portfolios among UNDP GEF’s 200 members+ global network of Country Support Programmes).

Abu-Bakar is well known in the environment, energy, and climate change sectors in Sierra Leone, having led various assignments leading to the country’s first National Framework for Climate Services, its first National Adaptation Plan, its first Climate Landscape Analysis for Children, its only NDC Implementation and Financing Plan, its first and only Contingency Plan for Drought Management, its first Coastal Climate Change Adaptation Plan, its first Offgrid Solar Strategy and Monitoring Mechanism, a national framework for State of the Environment Reporting, an updated Nationally Determined Contributions (NDC), the establishment and administration of regional NDC committees, government reports on SDG 15.3, and transformative projects for Land Degradation Neutrality (LDN).

His environmental and social performance work is also highly acclaimed, having supported various environmental and social impact assessments for private and public clients. He recently led the delivery of instruments for the Freetown Emergency Recovery Project. He also recently served in the Sierra Leone Compact Development Unit (SLCDU) in the Office of the Vice President (OVP) as the Environmental and Social Performance (ESP) Specialist [helping with climate change and natural capital analyses and providing environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) advisories].

Abu-Bakar’s work in mobilising climate finance is widely recognised across the region, having led various Global Environment Facility, Green Climate Fund, Adaptation Fund, and Rockefeller Foundation project design activities on behalf of bilateral and multilateral agencies in Mali, Liberia, Malawi, Mozambique, and Sierra Leone.

His works in policy and institutional analysis include, among others, advisory services to Wetlands Intl Africa for EU-funded projects in the Grand Mano Priority Conservation Landscape, Tetra Tech ARD for coastal resilience activities in the Sierra Leone Coastal Landscape Complex (SLCLC), the office of the Chief Minister for a National Reforestation and Timber Governance Policy, and UNDP Africa for the Africa Adaptation and Loss and Damage Initiative (AALDI).

Abu-Bakar recently led training in developing greenhouse gas emissions inventories and NDC design and reporting (for the EPA implemented, UNEP/GEF-funded Capacity Building Initiative for Transparency). He also recently contributed to two book projects for the Oxford University Press (OUP) and is led a portfolio of 4 projects: TROCAIRE-funded participatory research into climate risks, impacts, and solutions in Sierra Leone; an AfDB-funded national assessment of Artisanal and Small-scale Mining (ASM) assets, vulnerabilities, and structures; a UNEP-CMC and WASCAL partnership for the establishment of an interdisciplinary platform for biodiversity and ecosystem services; and a World Bank-funded ESG capacity building activity for local councils.

Abu-Bakar is a member of the Association for Geographic Information (U.K.); and a visiting fellow at the Centre of Climate Change and Development (CCCD) at the Alex Ekweme Federal University (AEFUNAI), Abakaliki, Ebonyi, Nigeria; and a founding member of the African Forum for Climate Change, Energy, and Development (AFCCED).

He holds an undergraduate degree in Energy Studies; graduate degrees in Environmental Management, Development Studies, and Carbon Management; a postgraduate degree in Environment and Development (specialising in multi-level climate governance); and is working towards a graduate degree in Geographical Information Systems (GIS).

Abu-Bakar is the current President of the National Association of Environmental Professionals (NAEP), in Sierra Leone’’. He is happily married with children.