Sierra Leone, one of the member states of the Economic Community of West Africa States (ECOWAS), will be hosting the 17th meeting of Board of Governors of the ECOWAS Bank for Investment and Development (EBID) on Monday 7th October 2019, at the Radisson Blu Hotel, Aberdeen, Freetown.

The meeting will bring together fifteen (15) ECOWAS Member States, which include: Sierra Leone Togo, Nigeria, Liberia, The Gambia, Mali, Guinea, Senegal, Burkina Faso, Niger, Ghana, Cote D'Ivoire Guinea Bissau, Cameroon, Benin, and Cape Verde. The ECOWAS Bank for Investment and Development Board of Governors is made up of Ministers responsible for Finance and Economic Development in the fifteen ECOWAS countries, and the current Chair of the Board of Governors is Senegal, whose tenure of office will come to an end after the Board meeting in Freetown.

Sierra Leone will automatically assume the new Chairmanship of the Bank until the next Board of Governors meeting in 2020. Sierra Leone’s current Minister of Finance, Hon. Jacob Jusu Saffa is expected to Chair the Board. As Chair of the Board of Governors will create more opportunities for both public and private sectors to access funds from the bank for its development projects.

The Annual meeting of the Board of Governors is rotational alphabetically among the 15 member states.

The Bank's President, Bashir Mamman Ifo, was appointed after serving as Vice President, Finance and Corporate Services in 2007. Mr. Ifo's tenure renewed for another four-years. His mandate will come to an end on 9th October 2019. The Governors of the Bank will either vote or elect the President through a consensus-building process.

Twenty candidates applied for the position of President of the ECOWAS Bank for Investment and Development (EBID). Seven shortlisted by the Directors of EBID. Three candidates emerged from amongst whom, the new President of the Bank will be selected.

EBID has financed three projects in Sierra Leone; the Sierra Leone Maritime Administration, Modernization and expansion of network and telecommunication infrastructure of SIERRATEL, and Solar Street Light in Freetown and 13 Communities in Sierra Leone.

The Government of Sierra Leone has requested the Bank to finance the Kono University of Science and Technology for USD 50 million. USD15 million to finance the proposed Diagnostic Centre of Excellence.

EBID started operations 1st January 2004 as a holding company with two specialized subsidiaries:

1. The ECOWAS Regional Development Fund (ERDF) for financing the public sector

2. The ECOWAS Regional Investment Bank (ERIB) for financing the private sector

On the 16th June 2006, the ECOWAS Authority of Heads of State and Government agreed to the reorganization of the EBID Group into a single entity, with two windows: one for promoting the private sector, and the other for developing the public sector.

EBID has been operating under its current structure since January 2007. The headquarters of the Bank is in Lome, Togo Republic.