Foreign Ownership and Land Law

This is the point on which foreign transactions most often come unstuck, and it requires current legal advice rather than a summary. The principle is that non-citizens do not enjoy the same rights to hold land as citizens. Freehold ownership is generally not available to non-citizens.

Foreign investors can take leases for terms of not more than 55 years, with an option to renew for a further 21 years in most cases. In the provinces, where customary tenure applies, the lease term is capped at 50 years. For mining and large agricultural investments, leases of up to 99 years are possible. Foreign land-based investments must reserve at least 5% of shares for Sierra Leoneans.

The Customary Land Rights Act 2022 (No. 20 of 2022) governs land subject to customary law. It protects customary land rights, eliminates discrimination under customary law, guarantees equal rights for women, and grants communities the right to free, prior and informed consent over industrial activity on their territory. The National Land Commission Act 2022 (No. 19 of 2022) establishes the Commission and District Land Commissions to administer land nationally.

Do not buy anything across a border without a Sierra Leonean lawyer who does this work routinely — not a generalist, not a friend of the seller. The structure of the holding is as important as the land itself, and a badly structured purchase can be unwound years later.