Economics & Development

On February 11, 2026, the Inspection Panel received a Request for Inspection related to the Sierra Leone: Sierra Leone Economic Diversification Project. The Request was submitted by two individuals from Freetown, Sierra Leone. The Request alleges that the Sierra Leone’s Ministry of Land, Tourism and other government Agencies supported by the military and paramilitary police demolished their two bedroom house and the foundation of a five-bedroom house they were constructing in their property in the Bathurst Village in Western Area Rural District of Greater Freetown, Sierra Leone. The Request states that, according to a press release from the Ministry of Tourism, the demolitions took place to protect the Tacugama Chimpanzee Sanctuary, where an Innovation Centre, a Botanical Garden, and a mini cinema for educational purposes are being constructed. According to the Request, the demolition of their properties was not preceded by resettlement procedures and, therefore, the Project violated the World Bank’s policies. The Panel acknowledges the seriousness of the concerns raised in the Request. The Panel’s initial due diligence concluded that the Request did not meet one of the criteria for registration, as the concerns raised in the Request at the time of its receipt are not related to the Bank-financed Project, therefore the Panel is not registering this Request.