Sewa News Stream

Can Rapaport's vision of "Tikkun Olam" truly stand up against China's Belt and Road Initiative or the influence of a Dutch drug lord in Sierra Leone?  In 2017, artisanal miners from a small hamlet discovered a 709-carat diamond, later dubbed the Sierra Leone Peace Diamond. This village and the surrounding area lacked clean water, electricity, schools, health facilities, roads, or bridges. The Rapaport Group announced that for the first time, millions of dollars from the sale of the Peace Diamond will go toward providing vital infrastructure and improving the lives of some of the poorest people in the world. On March 12, 2025, the Rapaport Group announced its sixth trade mission to Sierra Leone . Serving more than 20,000 clients in over 121 countries, the Rapaport Group will lead an international delegation of diamond dealers, jewelers, and industry leaders on an immersive journey from May 4 to May 9, 2025. This trip aims to provide firsthand exposure to artisanal dia...

  Last week, Thomas Dixon, a journalist from Sierra Leone with  17,500 followers on X (formerly known as Twitter), reported that the police in Sierra Leone confiscated a secure digital (SD) card from Dutch journalist Sophie van Leeuwen after deleting everything on her personal computer and mobile phone. Unnamed sources familiar with the police's actions claimed that the SD card was held for security reasons. Dixon stated that human rights activists demanded the return of the SD card and a public apology for the journalist's harassment.  In a post  on X (formerly known as Twitter), Sophie shared a photo of herself looking distraught, peering out of a ferry window as it made its way across the lagoon. " My work has been destroyed, and my colleague Joseph Turay fears for his life, " she wrote, adding that there was no press freedom in Sierra Leone. On Facebook, Sophie is listed as a freelance journalist and RTL Nieuws's African correspondent, with ties to BNR Nieu...

There’s an old legend about a mayor of Freetown who paid a visit to Gambia to meet with the mayor of Banjul. Two days into his stay, Freetown’s mayor thought that most people in Banjul knew somebody's name in his city 500 miles away. Everywhere he went, he ran into someone who had family or friends in Freetown. Historical, trade, and cultural ties go back centuries between the two African countries. So it came as a bit of a shock when the Gambia announced in April that all flights from Sierra Leone (as well as Guinea and Liberia) to Banjul had been cancelled to prevent the spread of Ebola. The decision left passengers, mainly traders travelling to Banjul, stranded, while Sierra Leone’s government was still in talks with Banjul. “Given the severity of the Ebola virus disease, I support the decision,” said Felice Oluremi Lawrence. They were “safety measures taken by the government of Gambia to prevent the virus from entering its borders,” she said. Sierra Leonean born Felic...