Sherbro: Idris Elba's plans for a futuristic eco-city

Hollywood actor Idris Elba is attempting to turn an island off the coast of Sierra Leone into a futuristic, eco-friendly "smart city".

The London-born star, whose father was from the West African nation, has teamed up with a childhood friend to develop Sherbro – an island "roughly the size of the Isle of Man", said The Guardian. The Sierra Leonean government has granted Sherbro "enough autonomy" to allow the project to go ahead.

Elba hopes to use the project to bring wind-powered renewable energy to Sierra Leone for the first time. Sherbro Island, "once under British reign, is now my canvas for change", he said in a post on X. 

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How did the project come about?

In 2016, Elba's childhood friend Siaka Stevens – the grandson of the late Sierra Leonean president Siaka Probyn Stevens – saw a map of power generation for Sierra Leone. Sherbro Island was the only region not highlighted, which Stevens found curious, according to the project's website.

After "extensive research", Stevens "recognised the island's potential for transformation", and convinced Elba of the positive impact that this could have on the rest of the country. 

"Originally we went there thinking how could we bring tourism to the most incredible 19 miles of beachfront," the 51-year-old actor told the BBC. 

But "a more innovative plan came into play", said the broadcaster. 

After Elba's father died, he had "vowed to use his platform to make a genuine and long-term contribution" to Sierra Leone, said the project website. He wanted to "shift the narrative around West Africa to a positive and forward-looking vision for Africans". 

In 2018, Elba and Stevens founded Sherbro Alliance Partners (SAP). The following year, they agreed a deal with the Sierra Leonean government, and several major firms, to turn Sherbro into an eco-city in a development fuelled by clean energy sources.

SAP agreed with renewal energy group Octopus to build Sierra Leone's first wind farm on the island. This will "benefit all Sierra Leoneans, irrespective of their tribal or political affiliations", SAP said in a statement.

What are the issues with the project?

Sherbro, which is about two hours from the mainland by ferry, lacks mains electricity. About 30,000 people live there, according to the most recent population data from 2013, and most work in the fishing and rice farming industries.

The reality of their life is "far removed" from the mocked-up plans of what the eco-city could look like, said the Daily Mail. With glass buildings and business and entertainment complexes, the city is a world away from the "run-down shanty towns" that most of the island's inhabitants currently call home.

The island is also a delicate ecosystem, "covered with mangrove forests" and an "important nesting site for sea turtles". Elba told the BBC that "it's a beautiful, green part of the world and we don't want to disturb that".

British energy supplier Octopus has outlined plans to turn Sherbro into an "energy island", with battery stations for electric vehicles. But only about 28% of the mainland's population have access to electricity, according to the Daily Mail. 

Sierra Leone's President Julius Maada Bio, who is from the Bonthe district that includes Sherbro, said the development would make the island "an economic engine for our country and neighbours". But Elba and Stevens stress that the process is "likely to last decades", said The Guardian. Feasibility is a "key question", while SAP needs to raise "billions of dollars" from various sources. 

US-Senegalese singer Akon announced a plan to build a futuristic city in Senegal more than five years ago – a £4.7 billion metropolis inspired by fictional African nation Wakanda. The first phase was due to be completed by the end of 2023, but the project has been hit by"delays and controversy". Only a youth centre and the shell of what will be the "welcome centre" has been built. 

Sierra Leone, a former British colony that became independent in 1961, is "one of the poorest countries in the world, so investment isn't rushing through the door", Elba told CNN. 

"Never in my lifetime would I have thought I could build the foundation for a new smart-city," he told the BBC. "I'm not qualified for that. But I am qualified to dream big."