French cooperation in Sierra Leone is designed to support sustainable development, clean environment and fight against climate change. Overseeing that assignment is Jean Lamy. Lamy is a French senior career diplomat, who was posted in Sierra Leone in the late 1980s and who came back to Sierra Leone at the end of 2025 as Chargé d’affaires, Head of the French diplomatic office in Freetown, which is a subsidiary of the French Embassy in Conakry, where the Ambassador Luc Briard is accredited both to Guinea and Sierra Leone. When, at the end of last year, Jean Lamy stepped once again onto Sierra Leonean soil after more than three decades, it was more than a personal homecoming; it was the rekindling of a historic partnership between France and Sierra Leone.
In an exclusive interview with The Nature Newspaper, Jean Lamy shares insights into his first and second stints in the country. His journey from a young diplomat in the late 1980s to a seasoned envoy today mirrors the evolution of Franco-Sierra Leone relations, marked by cooperation, disruption, and now renewal. “I was a young diplomat at the beginning of my career, and now I am an old diplomat at the end of my career… It’s always very important for a diplomat to have the chance to come back to a country where he was posted before.” His words capture the emotional weight of his return. In the late 1980s, France maintained a strong embassy in Freetown, supporting education, infrastructure, and cultural exchange.
That presence was disrupted by Sierra Leone’s civil war, which strained diplomatic ties and halted many cooperative projects. Under the authority of the French Embassy in Conakry, accredited to Sierra Leone, the reappointment of a former French diplomat whose first assignment was Sierra Leone consolidates that legacy, signaling France’s renewed commitment to Sierra Leone’s stability and growth. France has long been a champion of environmental cooperation in West Africa, and Sierra Leone has benefitted from projects in reforestation, energy transition, and sustainable agriculture. Spanning climate negotiations at the UN and EU, Jean Lamy’s career makes him uniquely suited to deepen this collaboration.
“The Sierra Leone development strategy aims to achieve the UN sustainable development goals (SDGs), and the European and French development assistance policy is based on the same goals.” He said. This alignment ensures that Sierra Leone’s Midterm National Development Plan 2030 is not just a national vision but part of a global agenda. Real benefits of French investments by private sector and French Development Agency (AFD) projects are visible. They include; Easy Solar, Waterloo Innovent Solar Plant (WISP), solar mini-grids powering rural communities with an “energy-for-business approach” (E4B) enabling local farmers and women entrepreneurs, sustainable cocoa initiatives that promise economic growth, environmental protection and fair price to the communities… Lamy’s presence consolidates these gains, ensuring France’s climate diplomacy translates into tangible improvements for Sierra Leoneans.
France’s support for Sierra Leone extends beyond land to sea. Historically, French technical assistance helped regulate fishing practices and combat illegal exploitation, safeguarding food security for coastal communities. That cooperation has now expanded into global ocean governance. “It is thanks to Sierra Leone’s signature last year at the UN Ocean Conference in Nice, that the new UN treaty to protect biodiversity, in the ocean, is now implemented (BBNJ – Biodiversity Beyond National Jurisdictions).” Said Lamy. In fact, Sierra Leone was the 60th State to sign the BBNJ treaty in France in 2025, and this triggered its global implementation; a landmark achievement.
France is an active member of the EU, which launched at the end of last year the West Africa Sustainable Ocean Program (WASOP), a €30 million initiative to protect biodiversity, combat pollution, and promote sustainable fisheries. For Sierra Leone, this means integration into regional blue economy frameworks and access to technical and financial support. Lamy’s return consolidates this cooperation, ensuring Sierra Leone’s voice is amplified in global ocean diplomacy. From the embassies of the 1980s to today’s climate and ocean initiatives, the France–Sierra Leone relationship has delivered real benefits and contributes to the country’s development in different sectors: technical expertise, infrastructure support, food security, environmental resilience.
France’s return in Sierra Leone bridges past and present, consolidating trust and renewing commitments. France’s support is not symbolic but practical, tied directly to Sierra Leone’s national priorities. As Sierra Leone charts its path toward 2030, France stands as a partner in resilience, prosperity, and global leadership. With the strong commitment of Ambassador Briard in Conakry, Jean Lamy’s homecoming is not just the story of a diplomat, it helps in strengthening again the ties and the partnership between France and Sierra Leone, the story of two nations recommitting to a shared future.
