Sierra Leone joins red-listed countries banned from entering the UK due to rising Covid cases
You will only be allowed entry if you are a British or Irish National or have residence rights in the UK.
Covid-19
Delta variant
You will only be allowed entry if you are a British or Irish National or have residence rights in the UK.
British Government today announced that on Monday 19th July at 4 AM, Sierra Leone will be joining a long list of countries with a very high prevalence of Covid infections from which travelers are banned from entering England.
Meaning that if you are entering England from Sierra Leone, you will only be allowed entry if you are a British or Irish National or you have residence rights in the UK.
In which case, before you travel to England, you must take a COVID-19 test; book a quarantine hotel package including 2 COVID-19 tests, and complete a passenger locator form.
Your Covid test result should be provided as a printed document or an email or text message you can show on your phone.
If you do not present proof of a negative Covid test, you may not be able to board your flight to England from Freetown. And arriving in England without proof of a negative test, you may be fined £500.
You must provide the original test result notification. It must include the following information:
your name, which should match the name on your travel documents
your date of birth or age
the result of the test
the date the test sample was collected or received by the test provider
the name of the test provider and their contact details
confirmation of the device used for the test, or that the test was a PCR test
If the test result does not include the information, you may not be able to board your flight. And if you arrive in England without a test result including the above information, you might have to pay a £500 fine.
If your test result is positive, you must not travel. You must follow local rules and guidelines laid down by the government of Sierra Leone for positive coronavirus cases. If the result is inconclusive, you must take another test.
British nationals who need consular assistance should contact the British High Commission in Freetown.
Children aged ten and under do not need to take a test. If you are an adult, you do not need to take a test if you are traveling to the UK for urgent medical treatment or accompanying someone traveling for urgent medical treatment. And that it is not reasonably practical to obtain a negative COVID-19 test in the three days before departure; or have a medical condition which means you cannot take a test. You must present a note from a medical practitioner at check-in and to Border Force staff on arrival in England.
Providing false or deliberately misleading information when filling out your passenger locator form before traveling to England is an offense punishable by imprisonment.
You could be fined up to £10,000 or imprisoned for up to 10 years or; both. Or if you do not provide accurate details about the countries you visited the ten days before you arrived in the UK.
Before you travel to England, you must book a managed quarantine hotel where you will quarantine- The quarantine package must include a quarantined hotel, food and drink, quarantine transfers, and travel test package COVID-19 on day2 and day8 of quarantine.
You will need to book, and pay for, a Quarantine Package before you complete your passenger locator form and board your return journey to the UK. You will only be able to book this within the two weeks before arriving in the UK.
If you break the quarantine rules, you may face a penalty of up to £10,000.
The decision by the British government to downgrade Sierra Leone from its amber list to red list was expected, after over one thousand (1000) cases of Covid were recorded in just four weeks in June.
Although the number of people that have died remains relatively low at 102, there are fears this figure may be much higher.
Two weeks ago, the government of Sierra Leone announced new Covid restrictions across the country, including an 11 PM to 5 AM curfew and the closure of all places of worship – except for funerals.
The British government says it will keep its list under constant review. Meanwhile, it “advises against all but essential travel to Sierra Leone based on the current assessment of COVID-19 risks.”
Article by Abdul Rashid Thomas via Sierra Leone Telegraph
UK-Africa Investment Summit
The British Prime Minister, in his opening address, called for an increased renewed partnership between the UK and Africa. He referred to Africa as a booming continent with staggering levels of growth. Prime Minister Johnson said, “look around the world today, and you will swiftly see that the UK is not only the obvious partner of choice, we’re also very much the partner of today, of tomorrow, and decades to come.”
British Prime Minister Calls For Bigger Investments In Africa
This year's UK-Africa Investment Summit, which started Monday 20th January 2020, is a first of its kind hosted by Britain's newly elected government. The opening ceremony witnessed by dignitaries and delegates from 16 African countries includes British Prime Minister, Boris Johnson, Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab, and Prince Harry, among others.
Prime Minister, Boris Johnson, UK; several African presidents
The British Prime Minister, in his opening address, called for an increased renewed partnership between the UK and Africa. He referred to Africa as a booming continent with staggering levels of growth. Prime Minister Johnson said, "look around the world today, and you will swiftly see that the UK is not only the obvious partner of choice, we're also very much the partner of today, of tomorrow, and decades to come."
African Development Bank President, Akinwumi Adesina made a public announcement at the gathering of a new $80 million World Bank, and DFID infrastructure financing partnership. According to Adesina, the continent's $68-$108 billion infrastructure investment gap per year is massive, but it depends on how one looks at it. The 'risks' in Africa exaggerated. It is lower than in Latin America. Yet funds are not channeled into Africa. There are $8 trillion of assets under management in London, but only 1 percent invested in Africa.
A press release issued by the African Development Bank noted that the Bank President urged investors to look to Africa and recalled the achievements of the Africa Investment Forum ...a game-changing initiative led by the African Development Bank, and key partners, to accelerate investment in the continent.
The unique multi-sector platform designed to advance bank deals to financial closure. At the 2019 Forum in Johannesburg, South Africa, deals valued $40.1 billion secured investment interest.
President Kenyatta rang the opening bell at the London Stock Exchange (LSE) to mark the launch of Kenya's first green bond at the LSE. Emphasized innovative sustainable investments in energy infrastructure. We all must think out of the box in terms of energy to ensure we produce more green energy. 'This first-ever sovereign green bond of $41.45 million will be used to build environmentally-friendly student accommodation in Kenya.'
The President of Ghana, Nana Akufo Addo, of Kenya, Uhuru Kenyatta, of Mauritania, Mohamed Ould Cheikh el Ghazouani, African Development Bank President Akinwumi Adesina, and Secretary of State for International Development, MP Alok Sharma, addressed a plenary panel discussion on "Sustainable Finance and Infrastructure' Unlocking the City of London and UK financial services for growth in Africa.
About the African Development Bank Group:
The African Development Bank Group (AfDB) (https://www.AfDB.org/) is Africa's premier development finance institution. It comprises three distinct entities: the African Development Bank (AfDB), the African Development Fund (ADF) and the Nigeria Trust Fund (NTF). On the ground in 44 African countries with an external office in Japan, the AfDB contributes to the economic development and the social progress of its 54 regional member states.
The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge hosted a reception for the UK-African Investment Summit on behalf of The Queen.
LONDON, ENGLAND - JANUARY 20, 2020: Photo by Yui Mok - WPA Pool/Getty Images
(Back row/left) Acting Minister for Foreign Affairs Tunisia, Sabri Bachtobji, Minister of Economy and Industry for Mauritius Sheikh El Kebir Moulaye Taher, Deputy Prime Minister of Ethiopia Demeke Mekonen Hassen, Minister of State for Economic Development in Angola Manuel Nunes Junior, Minister of Finance in Algeria Abderrahmane Raouya, President of World Bank David R Malpass, UN Economic Commission for Africa Executive Secretary Vera Songwe, IMF Director African Department Abebe Aemro Selassie, European Bank for Reconstruction and Development President Suma Chakrabati, African Union Chairperson Moussa Faki Mahamat, African Development Bank President Akinwumi Ayodesji Adesina,
(Middle row/left) President of Uganda Yoweri Kaguta Museveni, President of Sierra Leone Julius Maada Bio, President of Senegal Macky Sall, President of Rwanda Paul Kagame, Foreign Minister of Nigeria Geoffrey Onyeama, President of Mozambique Filipe Nyusi, Prime Minister of Morocco Saad Dine El Otmani, Prime Minister of Mauritius Pravind Kumar Jugnauth, President of Malawi Peter Mutharika, President of Kenya Uhuru Muigai Kenyatta, South Africa Foreign Minister Grace Naledi Mandisa Pandor,
(Front row/left) President of Guinea Alpha Conde, Sophie, Countess of Wessex, Prince Edward, Earl of Wessex, President of Ghana Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge, Prince William, Duke of Cambridge, UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson, President of Egypt Abdel Fattah Al Sisi, Princess Anne, Princess Royal, President of Democratic Republic of the Congo Felix Tshisekedi Tshilombo and President of Cote d'Ivoire Alassane Ouattara pose for a group photograph during a reception to mark the UK-Africa Investment Summit at Buckingham Palace on January 20, 2020, in London, England.