FREETOWN, Sierra Leone — For African Americans looking to leave the U.S. in search of peace, purpose, or a chance to build generational wealth, Sierra Leone could be a place to relocate to and connect with locals, who say they are ready to welcome Black Americans to their ancestral homes.
Baindu Amara, a local Sierra Leonean woman and owner of a boutique “arts and crafts business” along Kallon Junction Beach Road in Aberdeen, says she wants to connect with Black Americans looking to return to Africa through her artistry and by telling them the country’s history.
“One thing [I want to do] is to teach them what I am doing, to show them that this is my craft, this is what I do for a living, then to take them to see some of the beaches we have here, the hotels, and some other things,” she said.
Sierra Leone has a host of 4-star hotels such as the Mamba Point Hotel Lagoonda. This hotel offers seaside views overlooking Sierra Leone’s capital, Freetown. Guests from all over the United States, including Florida, and people in London, frequent this hotel for lodging, dinner and entertainment. The four-star hotel attracts locals to the Scarlet Lounge, which is adjacent to the hotel. It operates on Friday and Saturday.
Sierra Fofanah, an African American with Sierra Leonean roots, who is summering in the country, described the lounge as a go-to spot in the region.
“Scarlet [Lounge] is definitely a hotspot for people coming to Sierra Leone, it’s popular with the locals as well, not just expats or tourists, everybody ends up there at the end of the night. It’s a go-to spot, if there is nothing else to do, or if you’re just not sure, they have all sorts of events going on,” she said.
Fofanah, a former film and TV student at the University of the Arts London, says the lounge has “the typical club decorum, but if it’s a good night with a lot of people, it’s definitely instagrammable and can show off the vibes really well.”
Sierra Leone sees Black Americans as key to its future
Muhammad Janneh, a local security guard, said Sierra Leoneans are in America by way of the Transatlantic “Slave Trade,” and he wants them to return home. The country was a departure point for thousands of captive slaves in the 18th century. He also said his quality of life would improve if Black Americans were to come back to develop the infrastructure, adding that the country is ready to receive them, especially since the nation is recovering from the 2002 Civil War.
The West African country is still working toward rebuilding its infrastructure, and Janneh believes Black Americans “have a lot of resources. They have the finance. They have the technology” to collaborate with Africa’s growing population, which the United Nations describes as “the key to Africa’s sustainable development.”
There hasn’t been “significant generational wealth built through housing or businesses” in West African countries like Liberia, Ghana or Cape Verde and Sierra Leone, according to Witney Schneidman, a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution’s Africa Growth Initiative in the Global Economy and Development program.
But soon that could change with the Sierra Leonean government tapping a Black American restaurateur and community leader, Waleed Shamsid-Deen, as its special envoy for trade and investment.
“Sierra Leone offers fertile ground not just for investment in land and business, but for healing, identity, cultural exchange and legacy. This is more than an escape from political instability or social unrest in the U.S,” ambassador Shamsid-Deen said. “It’s a return to purpose and a reawakening. Sierra Leone is an ideal place for transformation to begin for some and to continue for others.”
Is the nation safe for travel and relocation?
For Felicitas Casellas, a project officer at the Non-Governmental Organization (NGO), Men’s Association for Gender Equality in Sierra Leone, the country feels safe.
“Where I live, everyone knows me, I walk around here past midnight, I drive my car here, I walk here alone,” she said.
Asked what message she would send to Black Americans wanting to move to the country, Casellas said: “If you want to live in a country with a lot of awesome, beautiful, welcoming [and] friendly people, then come to Sierra Leone, Mama Leone.”
“If you have good ideas and a little financial background, please come and create job opportunities for local Sierra Leoneans,” she added.
As for health, the country is facing an mpox (monkeypox) outbreak, with health data from the Sierra Leone Ministry of Health and the Institute for Ecology and Evolution at the University of Edinburgh, U.K., among other collaborators, reporting that cases have surged, with over 2,800 new infections reported as of May 22, 2025. Their analysis says it “strongly indicates ongoing human-to-human transmission.”
Reports categorized the outbreak as “explosive” and says it is overwhelming the country’s health care system. But what’s next for the country? According to the New York Times, Sierra Leone’s health officials are appealing to the U.S. for support. This comes at a time when President Donald Trump suspended nationals from Sierra Leone from coming into the United States, for overstaying their visas.
The English-speaking nation is offering African Americans a pathway to citizenship if they can prove their ancestral connection through a DNA test. This serves as a commitment to bridge the gap between African Americans and their African heritage, according to the ambassador.
“I’ve seen firsthand the government’s commitment to creating and enabling environments for investment, agriculture, infrastructure, technology, etc., but also meaningful connections to the African continent and most importantly, the ability to become a citizen,” Shamsid-Deen said.
“I would also state that African-Americans bring immense value, financial resources, technical expertise and a deep desire to build, but more importantly, they bring a shared history and an emotional commitment to uplift and contribute,” he added.
And if Black Americans do return to their ancestral home, Amara said she’ll be waiting for them to teach them about “Bai Buhe, [and] how he fought for Sierra Leone to gain its independence [from] the white people.”
People of color, this is the time to prepare to leave america. Our current administration has plans that doesn’t include us , unless we are slaves. Most of the African countries are banned. So we can’t run there for assistance.
Sierra Leone is a nice country with friendly people, but Americans should take money to live on because there are hardly any available jobs except with NGOs, or maybe join the Peace Corps and go there. I enjoyed the years I lived in Salone but I had jobs funded from outside the country.