LocationsSierra Leone's newest innovation hub opens on the historic Mount Aureol campus, backed by government, the University of Sierra Leone, UNDP and Africell, and built around a single conviction: that the country's future will be shaped by the ideas of its young people.
Where Innovative Ideas Take Root UniPod Sierra Leone Launches at Fourah Bay College.
July 13, 2026
Aerial View of the UniPod Innovation Hub
©UNDP Sierra Leone
Freetown, Mount Aureol — On a campus that has trained the region's finest minds for close to two centuries, Sierra Leone opened a bold new chapter in its innovation story. UniPod Sierra Leone was officially launched at Fourah Bay College, the oldest college of the University of Sierra Leone, in a landmark ceremony that brought together the highest levels of government, the university, the United Nations and the private sector on the slopes of Mount Aureol.
Chief Minister Dr. David Moinina Sengeh cuts the ribbon to officially inaugurate the UniPod facility.
©UNDP Sierra Leone
Chief Minister Dr Moinina David Sengeh performed the launch as Chief Launcher on behalf of His Excellency President Dr Julius Maada Bio. For Dr Sengeh, an engineer by training, the moment carried a deep personal resonance.
“I studied mechanical engineering and design on this very campus, so today I stand before you a very happy man. Today is proof that we deliver. The vision is what will carry us forward, and together we will deliver, today and tomorrow, for Sierra Leone.”
UniPod, part of a continent-wide network of university innovation pods, gives young Sierra Leoneans a dedicated space to build, prototype and grow their ideas into real ventures. The facility houses advanced design and fabrication labs, a media production studio, and, in a first for the entire UniPod network, fully mobile e-waste circularity facilities that can transform discarded electronics into raw material for new products, wherever they are needed.
UNDP Resident Representative with the UniPod team and staff.
©UNDP Sierra Leone
Not a building, but a transformation
For UNDP Resident Representative Fred Ampiah, the significance of the day reached far beyond the walls of the new centre.“This is not about a building. It is the right thing to do, and it is right that we are doing it here, at Fourah Bay College, an institution known for generations as the Athens of West Africa.”
Mr Ampiah, who helped establish one of the region's first innovation incubators two decades ago, placed UniPod within a global shift in how nations rise and compete.“For a century, countries competed over natural resources. Today they compete over knowledge and innovation. That is the power of ideas, and that is why we are here.”
He was careful to reframe what an innovation centre truly is. “Innovation is often misunderstood. It is not about expensive equipment. It is about transformation, about challenging old assumptions. This is not an IT lab. It is an innovation centre. Here, young people will learn to create, to build platforms, to turn electronic waste into value, and to reach markets far beyond our borders.”
His closing words drew the warmest response of the ceremony:
“Never believe that your vision has an address, or that it depends on a foreign passport. Vision starts right here.”
Minister of Communication, Technology and Innovation, Salima Bah, delivers her address at the inauguration of the UniPod Innovation Hub.
©UNDP Sierra Leone
From prototype to enterprise
Salima Bah, Minister of Communication, Technology and Innovation, set out what she sees as the real measure of the initiative: whether ideas can travel from the workbench to the marketplace.
“UniPod plays a key role in our innovation ecosystem, and digital transformation is a long-term journey and a long-term investment. Prototypes are great, but the goal is commercialisation and investment. Some of the world's greatest technology companies began on a university campus. Sierra Leone's can too.”
Speaking of the government's wider digital drive, she pointed to the skills centres already operating in Bo and Kenema. Dr Haja Ramatulai Wurie, Minister of Technical and Higher Education, framed the launch as part of a far-reaching transformation of the country's higher education sector.
“We must ensure our young people have the tools to innovate. I commend the University of Sierra Leone for creating spaces that nurture innovation and entrepreneurship, spaces where students, researchers and innovators are empowered to develop creative solutions to national challenges.”
Deputy Vice-Chancellor of Fourah Bay College, Andrew Baio, delivers his address at the UniPod Innovation Hub inauguration.
©UNDP Sierra Leone
A partnership rooted in the campus
Welcoming the initiative on behalf of the host institution, Deputy Vice-Chancellor Andrew Baio tied UniPod to the university's founding mission.
“For nearly two centuries, this institution has served the nation. UniPod provides a bridge between research and innovation, helping to transform ideas into practical solutions, particularly in human capital and sustainable development. Our thanks go to UNDP for its continued partnership. May it strengthen this institution for a bright future for Sierra Leone.”
UniPod facilitator showcases prototyping software at the UniPod Innovation Hub.
©UNDP Sierra Leone
Dr Haja Ramatulai Wurie, Minister of Technical and Higher Education, framed the launch as part of a far-reaching transformation of the country’s higher education sector.
“This is what a modern higher education system should look like: one that does not stop at the lecture hall but gives students the means to create, to build and to solve real problems. UniPod empowers our students, researchers and innovators to develop solutions to national challenges, and it strengthens the entire sector in the process. My commendation goes to the University of Sierra Leone for creating this space, and to UNDP for standing with us. This is how we prepare the next generation to lead.”
Minister of Technical and Higher Education, Dr. Haja Ramatulai Wurie, engages with a DJ during a tour of UniPod’s music and creative production facility.
©UNDP Sierra Leone
The launch also marked a deepening of UNDP's private-sector partnerships. A representative of Africell described the project as a celebration of the alliance between UNDP, the timbuktoo initiative and Africell, in the hills of Fourah Bay College, and set out how the company's digital infrastructure, from Afrimoney to systems commissioned over the past year, would connect directly to the new centre. Through the partnership, a single Africell card will unlock access to UniPod's facilities.
The Sierra Leone pod stands apart as the first in the global UniPod network to be built with mobile end-of-life circularity facilities. The capability turns the centre into a true co-creator of development solutions, allowing young innovators to reclaim value from technology that would otherwise be lost, and to carry that capacity out into communities across the country.
Government, UNDP Resident Representative, and Vice-Chancellor pose for a group photo at the UniPod Innovation Hub.
©UNDP Sierra Leone