Tourism boost for Sierra Leone

By Mark Doyle
BBC world affairs correspondent

Sierra Leone's beaches have excellent tourism potential

Sierra Leone says a $270m Chinese investment in hotel infrastructure should lay the ground for a tourism boom in the formerly war-torn country.

Work on a beachside complex is expected to take place over the next year.

The investment is part of a trend for increased Chinese involvement in Africa in trade and other spheres.

At least 500 Chinese soldiers are deployed as peacekeepers in Sierra Leone's neighbour Liberia, the largest Chinese contribution to a UN force.

Part of the new hotel complex being planned by the Chinese for the capital, Freetown, is on land overlooking the Atlantic Ocean.

It is currently being leased by a United Nations peacekeeping force.

The symbolism, apparently unintentional, could not be clearer.

Two years after the war officially ended, Sierra Leone does not need peacekeepers as much as productive foreign investment.

Stunning beaches

To most of the world, Sierra Leone is still synonymous with war - memories of the brutal activities of rebels are still fresh.

But the country also boasts excellent tourist potential, including some stunning beaches.

One beach near the capital was used as the set for a film advert for the coconut chocolate bar Bounty, with the commentary speaking of "a taste of paradise".

Freetown is also now safer than many western cities.

But while Chinese investors have now staked their claim, others complain that corruption in government circles is rife and that the long term prospects are unclear.

Sierra Leone's Director of Tourism said the country was aiming for the more expensive end of the tourism market.

Visitors from Europe as well as Asia - arriving on a possible direct air link with China - would be encouraged.

However, recent visitors said that one Chinese-owned hotel already built in Freetown was not up to international standards.

To succeed at the top end of the tourism market, the visitors said, any new hotels would have to be more luxurious.