SIERRA LEONE’S allure, at least to foreign investors, has always lain in its diamond deposits.

The fact that they yielded “conflict” or “blood” diamonds, whose sale was used to help fund the battles that ravaged the impoverished African country, did little to dent their appeal.

Now, with the onset of peace in Sierra Leone, an ambitious 27-year-old Welshman is seeking to broaden the focus of foreign investors. Tom Cairnes wants to raise a $20 million (£11.4 million) private equity fund to invest in home-grown businesses in the country.

Mr Cairnes, who abandoned a career with Marakon, the management consultants, for a humanitarian mission to Freetown, Sierra Leone’s capital, says that fundraising is about to start. His target investors will be donors and development finance institutions.

If he succeeds in raising the funds, Mr Cairnes wants to invest between $1 million and $3 million in individual businesses in Sierra Leone’s agriculture, fishing, tourism, construction and services sectors.

Mr Cairnes said: “That there is opportunity for investment in Sierra Leone is clear. The rich agricultural land, cheap and abundant labour and Sierra Leone’s geographical location at the heart of the Mano River union (a three-country alliance also including Liberia and Guinea, with a population of 15 million) all provide good conditions for investment.”

However, he also concedes the substantial challenges, not least of which is a daily electricity limit of six hours. “The challenge for private equity (in Sierra Leone) is that it takes years to realise the returns,” he said. “What Sierra Leone requires, therefore, is a way to support the Sierra Leoneans who are working to make things happen in the private sector. This is what the enterprise we are establishing will try to do.”

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