4 August 2026 — Kuwait City: The Kuwait Fund for Arab Economic Development (KFAED) has reiterated its pledge to finance the proposed construction of a comprehensive cancer centre in Sierra Leone, highlighting the Fund’s ongoing efforts to enhance the health infrastructure of the West African country. Rashaid A. Al-Bader, Acting Director-General, made the declaration during a meeting with Her Excellency Haja Ishata Thomas, Sierra Leone’s Ambassador to Kuwait, at the Fund’s headquarters in Kuwait City.
Mr Al-Bader said the project is focusing on diagnostic services, radiotherapy and nuclear medicine/imaging, which goes along with KFAED’s health sector development priorities in Sierra Leone. He said that once the Sierra Leonean government gives formal approval for the mission, a Fund appraisal team would visit Freetown to assess the proposal.
Sierra Leone and the Kuwait Fund had a long-standing partnership dating back to the 1990s when KFAED funded the Waterloo-Tokeh Road, the Acting Director-General said. The Fund has supported development in Sierra Leone in a range of sectors since it first engaged the country, he said.
Ambassador Thomas congratulated Mr Al-Bader on his appointment as Acting Director-General and remarked on the Fund’s recent engagement with the leadership of Sierra Leone’s finance sector. She said that in June, during the Islamic Development Bank meetings in Baku, Azerbaijan, she had discussions about the Cancer Centre with representatives of the KFAED, including Sierra Leone’s Minister of Finance, Hon. Sheku Fantamdi Bangura.
The Ambassador stressed that a dedicated Cancer Centre in Freetown could be transformative, providing much-needed access to critical oncology care not only for Sierra Leoneans but also for patients across the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) region. The availability of local diagnostic, radiotherapy, and nuclear medicine services at the facility is expected to reduce the need for patients to travel abroad for daily or ongoing treatment, thus easing an enormous financial and emotional burden on families.
“Building a Cancer Centre will do a lot in providing much-needed health care support and reducing the death rate, not only for Sierra Leoneans but also for people across the region,” Ambassador Thomas said. She said the Kuwait Fund is encouraged to continue its development assistance in other priority sectors, pending formal approval of the appraisal mission.
KFAED already has several infrastructure and social projects in its portfolio in Sierra Leone. Several projects were mentioned during the meeting. They include the Freetown Wash and Aquatic Environment Revamping Project, which aims at improving access to safe drinking water and sanitation in Freetown and the Western Area; support for three tertiary hospitals in the capital; construction of the Kaningo and Juba raw water storage reservoirs; and major road projects such as the Lumley-Tokeh Road, Hillside Bypass Road, and Kenema-Pendembu Road.
The list of bilateral cooperation is awaiting the Government of Sierra Leone’s approval to enable the Fund’s appraisal mission to proceed, with a reaffirmation of support for the Cancer Centre.
