President of Sierra Leone, Dr Julius Maada Bio, at the Investors’ Conference on the Tender Process for the Proposed Lungi Bridge, has announced the launching of the tender process for the Lungi Bridge project. The project includes the development of a 6 lane 8 km long bridge linking Government Wharf in Freetown to the northwest of Sierra Leone including airport town of Lungi. Lungi town is a small coastal town in Port Loko District in the Northern Province of Sierra Leone.

The bridge will be developed and later maintained under PPP procurement "build, own, operate and transfer" business model.

Request for Expression of Interest (RFEOI) was launched by the government of Sierra Leone last week to invite potential international bidders for the project. According to sources, five European and Asian companies have already shown interest in the concession. The concessionaire will recover the investment by charging tolls for using the bridge. The project is expected to cost US$ 2 billion. In order to attract investment through a public-private partnership, the government must secure a sovereign debt guarantee.

When the project is signed, it will become the largest and most ambitious project of Siera Leone to this date. 

The construction time is expected to be 4-6 years. The design life of the bridge is 120 years.

The concession period will be 35 years.