Sierra Leone

Politics:

• Analysis

  Sierra Leone politics: Quick View - Opposition concedes defeat

  Event

  The opposition Sierra Leone People's Party (SLPP) has recognised Ernest Bai Koroma, the leader of the ruling All People's Congress (APC), as the winner of the November 17th presidential election.

  Analysis

  In contrast to international observers, which have mostly praised the elections, the SLPP said that the presidential, legislative and local polls were marred by widespread irregularities and fraud, which undermined the credibility of the results. The SLPP has threatened to boycott the parliament as well as local governing bodies and has demanded an independent international enquiry into the election process. However, following a meeting between Mr Koroma and the SLPP's presidential candidate, Julius Maada Bio, the opposition recognised the leader of the APC as the country's president. While the SLPP has not yet made clear whether it will attend the opening of parliament on December 6th, the party's recognition of Mr Koroma's victory is likely to defuse tensions.

  The country's political scene is divided into two ethno-regional blocs-the APC dominates in the northern and western regions while the SLPP has its strongholds in the south and east-and the winner-takes-all character of elections in the country had raised fears that the opposition's rejection of the election results could trigger large-scale street protests. The SLPP has criticised the APC-led regime over the past five years for favouring its backers in the north and west when appointing public officials or implementing development programmes while marginalising supporters of the opposition. In order to boost political stability, the new APC-led administration will need to reduce regional divisions and the dominance of identity politics by promoting a more inclusive political scene.

  December 06, 2012

• Background

  Sierra Leone: Key figures

  Ernest Koroma

  A veteran politician, he was elected president in 2007 and is the leader of the main government party, the All People's Congress (APC). He came to power on a platform of reform. Mr Koroma has declared his intention to "run the country like a business", and told parliamentarians that they were now working for Enterprise Sierra Leone Limited.

  Solomon Berewa

  The chief government negotiator at the 1999 Lome peace conference, he was justice minister, attorney-general and vice-president before he succeeded Ahmed Tejan Kabbah as president of the Sierra Leone People's Party (SLPP). His once powerful influence within the party has diminished following the failure of the SLPP to hold on to power in 2007.

  Charles Margai

  An ex-SLPP moderniser and lawyer, and son of a former prime minister, Sir Albert Margai. He is very popular, but when he failed to win the SLPP leadership in 2005, he left the party and founded the People's Movement for Democratic Change. He was able to appeal to many disaffected SLPP supporters in the south and east of the country in the 2007 elections.

  The judiciary

  Sierra Leone's current constitution came into force in October 1991, but it was suspended on a number of occasions during the civil war. Many judges, lawyers, doctors, civil servants and other professionals left the country because of the war. Those remaining draw salaries but often lack the means to carry out their duties—for example, the judiciary is hampered in work that has a political bearing, especially corruption cases, as the chief justice is appointed by the president. The Anti-Corruption Act in February 2000 led to the formation of the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC), but there has been concern over the failure to prosecute political offenders. In 2007 the International Crisis Group (a non-governmental organisation promoting conflict prevention) highlighted the fact that the respected civil servant heading the ACC, Val Collier, had been replaced by a close friend of the regime, Henry Joko-Smart, who has preferred to focus on bringing charges against mid-level and junior officials rather than senior officials The ineffectiveness of the judiciary was also highlighted in a 2007 World Bank report, Governance Matters, in which Sierra Leone ranked in the bottom 10% of countries worldwide for rule of law and control of corruption.

  The legislature

  Sierra Leone currently has a largely presidential system of government. The president and members of parliament are elected every five years by universal adult suffrage. A constituency system was used for the 2007 election following an amendment to the constitution—a national list proportional representation system had temporarily been in place since the civil war. There are currently 124 seats in the unicameral Parliament; while 12 paramount chiefs retain the right to sit as members.

  Media services

  In the past, the media have struggled to operate freely in the face of successive corrupt and repressive governments, and although it has improved in recent years, concerns remain over press freedom. Radio is an influential medium, especially the BBC World Service, and there are several private FM stations (in Freetown, Bo and Kenema). There are several Freetown-based independent daily newspapers: Awoko, Concord Times, The Independent and The Standard Times. The government provides its version of news through the Sierra Leone News Agency. A number of private news websites exist, of varying quality, run largely by the Sierra Leonean diaspora. Television was dominated by the state broadcaster, Sierra Leone Broadcasting Service Television, until 2005 when a private broadcaster, ABC Television, launched its operations.

  Democracy index (for methodology, see Appendix)

  The Economist Intelligence Unit's 2008 democracy index ranks Sierra Leone 113th out of 167 countries, in the category of hybrid regimes, indicating that the quality of democracy is compromised by a number of factors. Certainly, the electoral process has improved significantly: the 2007 elections were considered to be free and fair and the third successive democratic elections held in the country. Moreover, the 2007 election was peaceful and the result largely accepted by all political parties, resulting in a trouble-free handover of power to an opposition party. But in other respects Sierra Leone fares poorly, particularly in the functioning of government, which reflects weak administrative capacity, endemic corruption and widespread mismanagement. Poor levels of political participation reflect poor representation of women, ethnic minorities, and indeed mainstream ethnic groups not associated with the ruling party; however, the process of democratic elections is becoming clearer, more accepted and more established, and thus, the political culture is slowly maturing. There are still concerns over civil liberties in Sierra Leone: freedom of speech, particularly the press, is not always respected, and the judicial system is very weak, suffering from limited capacity and political interference.

  Democracy index
  	Overall score	Overall rank	Electoral process	Government functioning	Political participation	Political culture	Civil liberties	Regime type
  Sierra Leone	4.11	113	6.58	1.50	2.78	5.00	4.71	Hybrid regime
  Overall and component scores are on a scale of 0 to 10; overall rank is out of 167 countries.

  Download text file (csv format)

  July 01, 2008

• Structure

  Sierra Leone: Political structure

  Official name

  Sierra Leone

  Form of state

  Unitary republic

  Legal system

  Constitutional government based on English common law

  National legislature

  124-seat parliament of 112 elected members (first-past-the-post system) and 12 paramount chiefs

  National elections

  Presidential, legislative and local elections held on November 17th 2012. President Ernest Bai Koroma was re-elected after winning 58.7% of the vote. In the legislative election, the ruling All People's Congress won 67 seats and the main opposition party, Sierra Leone People's Party, 42 seats. The results for three seats had not been announced by the editorial closing date

  Head of state

  President

  National government

  The head of state and cabinet of ministers

  Main political parties

  All People's Congress (APC); Sierra Leone People's Party (SLPP); People's Movement for Democratic Change (PMDC); National Democratic Alliance (NDA); United Democratic Movement (UDM)

  President: Ernest Bai Koroma

  Vice-president: Samuel Sam-Sumana

  Key government ministers

  Agriculture, food security & forestry: Sam Sesay

  Defence: Alfred Paulo Conteh

  Education, science & technology: Minkailu Bah

  Energy & water resources: Oluniyi Robbin-Coker

  Finance & development: Samura Kamara

  Foreign affairs & international co-operation: Joseph B Dauda

  Health & sanitation: Zainab Bangura

  Information & communications: Alhaji Ibrahim Ben Kargbo

  Internal affairs: Musa Tarawalli

  Justice & attorney-general: Frank Kargbo

  Labour & social security: Hindolo Sumanguru Trye

  Lands, country planning & the environment: Allieu Pat Sowe

  Local government & rural development: Dauda Sulaiman Kamara

  Marine resources & fisheries: Soccoh Kabia

  Mineral resources: Alhaji Minkailu Mansaray

  Social welfare, gender & children's affairs: Dennis Sandy

  Tourism & cultural affairs: Victoria Saidu Kamara

  Trade & industry: Richard Konteh

  Transport & aviation: Vandi Chidi Minah

  Works, housing & infrastructure: Alimamy Koroma

  Central bank governor

  Sheku Sesay

  December 04, 2012

Economy:

• Background

  Sierra Leone: Economic background

  Real gross domestic product by sector
  (% of GDP; estimates)
  	2003	2004	2005	2006	2007
  Agriculture	46.8	46.0	46.1	46.1	46.1
  Industry	24.7	24.8	24.4	24.4	24.4
  Services	28.5	29.2	29.5	29.5	29.5
  Source: Economist Intelligence Unit.

  Download text file (csv format)

  The largest sector of the economy is agriculture, where most people earn their livelihood. However, the mining industry is a significant driver of GDP growth. Sierra Leone produces diamonds, gold, rutile (titanium ore), bauxite and ilmenite, and the development of large iron ore deposits could have a significant impact in expanding this sector. As with mining, agricultural activity was severely disrupted by the civil war, but the end of fighting and rehabilitation of small plantations by farmers has seen agricultural activity pick up significantly. The services sector is still relatively small (around 30% of GDP), and dominated by government, but there is significant growth taking place in transport and communications.

  July 01, 2008

• Structure

  Sierra Leone: Economic structure

  Economic structure: Annual indicators

  	2008a	2009a	2010a	2011a	2012b
  GDP at market prices (Le m)	5,828.4	6,330.3	7,597.2	9,488.9	11,592.8
  GDP (US$ bn)	2.0	1.9	1.9	2.2	2.7
  Real GDP growth (%)	5.5	3.2	4.9	6.0	19.7
  Consumer price inflation (av; %)	14.8	9.3	16.6	16.2	12.6
  Population (m)	5.6	5.7	5.9	6.0	6.1
  Exports of goods fob (US$ m)	273.5	270.4	362.9	371.2	982.6
  Imports of goods fob (US$ m)	471.2	511.9	735.9	1,629.2	1,727.6
  Current-account balance (US$ m)	-300.0	-291.0	-482.9	-1,220.1	-932.3
  Foreign-exchange reserves excl gold (US$ m)	189.7	215.3	224.8	260.4	349.8
  Exchange rate (av) Le:US$	2,981.5	3,385.7	3,978.1	4,349.2	4,353.0
  a Actual. b Economist Intelligence Unit estimates.

  Download the numbers in Excel

  Origins of gross domestic product 2011	% of total	Components of gross domestic product 2011	% of total
  Agriculture	52.8	Total consumption	70.0
  Industry	21.7	Government consumption	11.1
  Services	25.5	Gross fixed investment	14.9
  		Exports of goods & services	16.3
  		Imports of goods & services	26.6
  Principal exports fob 2011a	US$ m	Principal imports fob 2011a	US$ m
  Diamondsb	129.8	Capital goods	756.3
  Cocoa	44.0	Petroleum	275.3
  Bauxite	39.0	Food	255.5
  Main destinations of exports 2011c	% of total	Main origins of imports 2011c	% of total
  Belgium	25.9	China	15.1
  Romania	11.3	South Africa	10.1
  Netherlands	8.3	US	6.9
  China	6.6	UK	6.7
  US	6.2	India	4.7
  a Bank of Sierra Leone estimates. b Excludes unrecorded diamond exports. c Based on partners' trade returns; subject to a wide margin of error.

  Download the numbers in Excel

  Download text file (csv format)

  December 04, 2012

• Outlook

  Sierra Leone: Country outlook

  Sierra Leone: Country outlook

  FROM THE ECONOMIST INTELLIGENCE UNIT

  OVERVIEW: The victory of Sierra Leone's ruling All People's Congress (APC) in the November elections, together with international election observers' endorsement of the poll, will foster political stability, but ethno-regional tensions will persist. Fast economic growth and promises to improve public services have heightened people's expectations and the regime will be under pressure to raise living standards or risk triggering popular resentment. Following better spending controls and improved revenue collection, the fiscal deficit is expected to narrow to 3.1% of GDP in 2014. After an estimated leap in real GDP growth to 19.7% in 2012, owing to the onset of iron ore production, growth will remain brisk in the 2013-14 forecast period at an average of 7.3%, supported by continued expansion in the mining sector. Average inflation is set to moderate to 10.3% in 2013 and 9.4% in 2014 as domestic agricultural production improves and world food prices fall. The current-account deficit is forecast to shrink from an estimated 35% of GDP in 2012 to 14.2% of GDP in 2014 as mining exports increase. The continued high import bill means that the trade balance will remain in deficit.

  DOMESTIC POLITICS: Strong economic growth on the back of foreign investments in the mining sector as well as progress on infrastructure, agriculture and the introduction of free healthcare for children under five, pregnant women and nursing mothers have boosted the popularity of the president, Ernest Bai Koroma, and his party, the APC. As a result, the APC widened its legislative majority and Mr Koroma was re-elected on November 17th with nearly 60% of the vote, compared with 37.4% for Julius Maada Bio, the candidate of the main opposition party, the Sierra Leone People's Party (SLPP). Mr Koroma is expected to appoint a new government in the upcoming weeks, but the international observer teams' endorsement of the electoral process, together with Mr Koroma's and the APC's overwhelming election victory, will give them a clear mandate to govern the country and should foster political stability. Moreover, the absence of widespread violence surrounding the polls also suggests that the election will further consolidate the peacebuilding process and strengthen democracy. However, the election also highlighted the fact that the country remains divided along a north-south ethno-regional divide and the polarised political scene poses threats to political stability. The opposition, which has its stronghold among Mende communities in the south and east, said that the elections were marred by widespread irregularities and that the results of the polls were not credible. It accused the National Electoral Commission of bias towards the incumbent regime and this, together with a partisan media, an ethnically imbalanced and bloated police force, and sporadic verbal as well as violent attacks against the opposition, could cause ethnic tension to rise, particularly if the new administration is seen as favouring supporters of Mr Koroma among Temne and Limba communities in the northern districts. The SLPP will need to overhaul its party structures and widen its appeal beyond its strongholds. The hype surrounding the country's economic potential-the Economist Intelligence Unit's estimate for GDP growth in 2012 is almost 20%-has raised people's expectations. With low formal job growth and a high rate of youth unemployment, which currently stands at around 40%, creating jobs and raising living standards will be high on the government's agenda. However, progress will be slow as resources are stretched and the state bureaucracy's ability to implement large development projects effectively is limited. In addition, persistent inflation, caused in part by the planned reintroduction of fuel subsidies, and popular concern over weak management of revenue from the natural resources sector also pose challenges to the regime. Against this backdrop, there is a strong demand for firmer action on corrupt practices among politicians and public servants. A lack of resolute action on corruption risks fostering a view that the administration is out of touch with the hardships facing most Sierra Leoneans and could fuel popular resentment against the regime.

  INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS: Although Sierra Leone's relations with its neighbours are generally good, security in the subregion remains fragile, particularly in Guinea-Bissau and Côte d'Ivoire. Liberia is expected to remain politically stable, although sporadic crossborder clashes between local communities on both sides of the border will continue. Sierra Leone and Guinea have agreed to demilitarise the disputed border region of Yenga, but disagreements on border demarcation could still cause tensions. Sierra Leone's porous borders mean that any localised insecurity is easily transferred and the growing presence of Latin American drug cartels in the region could pose a security threat to the country. The IMF and international donors are expected to remain committed to Sierra Leone's development-especially the UK, which has strong economic and diplomatic ties with the country. Donor support is conditional on the government implementing most of its policy targets, and this will prove difficult. Nonetheless, Mr Koroma is expected to make sufficient progress to ensure that donors remain committed to the country, encouraged by improving health indicators and the government's ambitious development spending plans. Overall, Sierra Leone will remain a focus of international efforts to consolidate peace in post-conflict countries. China is the main destination of the country's iron ore exports, and it will seek to boost its influence through investments in infrastructure and the natural resources sector.

  POLICY TRENDS: Improvements to Sierra Leone's decrepit transport, power and public health infrastructure will be the focus of the government's efforts to boost growth and create jobs as part of the government's medium-term development strategy, the Agenda for Prosperity (2013-17). However, implementation will be constrained by the lack of capacity within both the administration and the local construction industry. Numerous reforms are planned and will initially be guided by the country's Extended Credit Facility (2010-13) with the Fund, which is worth US$45.4m, of which US$32.4m has been disbursed. Objectives include improving domestic revenue collection, increasing the efficiency of public expenditure and investment execution, ensuring transparency in public procurement and the natural resources sector, strengthening the fight against corruption and ensuring the financial viability of public utilities. A new Fund programme, with similar programme requirements, is likely to replace the current one once it expires in mid-2013. The country's power-generation capacity will continue to fall short of demand and this, together with weak distribution networks, means that power shortages will persist. The government will be eager to advance the planned second development phase of the Bumbuna hydroelectric project, which is expected to boost its capacity from 50 mw to 300 mw by 2016, but the effects of this will not be felt in 2013-14. In addition, the country aims to reduce reliance on expensive imported rice by producing enough itself to meet domestic needs-an achievable goal, albeit probably not within 2013-14. Several large foreign-financed agricultural investment deals, including in biofuels production, have been announced in recent years, reflecting the government's efforts to boost output in the agricultural sector. Recent oil discoveries will spur investments in the hydrocarbons sector, but commercially viable quantities are yet to be found and the potential onset of production is still at least several years away. Overseas grants and loans-principally project-linked-will continue to contribute around one-quarter of all revenue, and will support the financing of the fiscal deficit at concessional rates. Domestic borrowing will also continue to play a significant role in financing the deficit.

  ECONOMIC GROWTH: Mining sector activities, particularly iron ore production, will continue to be the main driver of economic growth in 2013-14. UK-based African Minerals and London Mining, which operate the Marampa and Tonkolili iron ore mines, plan to expand output further and invest in transport facilities linking the mines to the country's port infrastructure. However, power shortages, inadequate infrastructure and volatile weather conditions (heavy rains affect the ability to transport the iron ore) could dampen growth. Nevertheless, buoyant prices for diamonds, gold and aluminium will help to boost investment in the non-iron ore mining sector. Oil-exploration activities will pick up following the announcement of offshore discoveries in recent years, although production is not expected to start during 2013-14. Activity in other sectors will also improve as the government seeks to strengthen the business climate through investments in basic infrastructure and health and education, although an inadequate electricity supply continues to act as a hindrance on local output. Growth in agricultural production will be robust on the back of new foreign-financed commercial projects, including a major bio-ethanol programme, and the government's focus on self-sufficiency in rice production-supported by external donors. Manufacturing will remain the weakest sector, plagued by supply-side constraints and competition from cheaper imports. Services will continue to see healthy growth, mainly as a result of mining-related services and donor-supported reconstruction efforts to improve roads, power, water supply and sanitation, while growth in telecommunications is expected to continue its upward trend. Following the onset of iron ore production, real GDP will have grown by an estimated 19.7% in 2012, and we forecast that growth will slow to a still-healthy 7.4% in 2013 and 7.1% in 2014 as mining activities continue to expand. Imported inflation will remain a major factor in price trends for the country, which is estimated to import nearly 40% of its food needs. Hence, a continued moderation in global food prices, together with improvements in local rice production, should help to alleviate inflationary pressure in 2013-14. Owing to an improved inflation outlook, interest rates are likely to fall slightly.

  EXTERNAL ACCOUNT: Exports are expected to rise strongly in 2013-14 as mining activity picks up at the Tonkolili and Marampa iron ore mines. However, exposure to weather-related shocks and infrastructure bottlenecks will continue to moderate export growth. Although import growth will slow in 2013, the import bill will remain high, owing primarily to high capital imports for mining and infrastructure projects and also to buoyant oil prices. Nevertheless, because of the rapid increase in exports, the trade deficit will narrow significantly. The services account will remain in deficit, largely because of transport costs associated with the large import bill and imported services for the construction sector. The income deficit will widen, as higher local production of mined commodities will boost profit repatriation by international mining firms, restrained only by rising levels of investment. In line with large inflows of donor funds, the current transfers balance will remain in surplus. As a result of strong iron ore exports, we forecast that the current-account deficit will shrink from an estimated 35% of GDP in 2012 to 20.6% of GDP in 2013 and further to 14.2% of GDP in 2014. The deficit will mainly be financed by strong foreign direct investment inflows.

  December 04, 2012

View detailed map

Country Briefing

Land area

71,740 sq km

Population

5.5m (CIA World Factbook estimate, 2012)

Main towns

Freetown (capital), Bo, Kenema, Makeni, Koidu

Climate

Tropical

Weather in Freetown (altitude 1,260 metres)

Hottest month, April, 29°C; coldest month, August, 26°C; driest month, February, 3 mm average rainfall; wettest month, July, 782 mm average rainfall

Languages

English (official), Krio (an English-orientated creole), Mende, Temne and other local languages

Measures

Metric system

Currency

Leone (Le)=100 cents

Time

GMT

Public holidays

January 1st; May 1st; August 9th (National Day); December 25th; the principal Islamic holidays—Eid al-Fitr, Eid al-Adha (Tabaski) and Mouloud (the Prophet Mohammed's birthday)—are based on the lunar calendar and vary from year to year

March 16, 2012