Sierra Leone

Politics:

• Analysis

  Sierra Leone politics: Quick View - Anti-Corruption Commission in largest s

  Event

  Sierra Leone's Anti-Corruption Commission has indicted 29 people on various corruption offences related to the misappropriation of donor and public funds.

  Analysis

  Most of the indictments relate to the misuse of around US$1.1m from the GAVI Alliance-an international non-governmental organisation aiming to improve access to immunisation-which led to the suspension of several health officials in the country in January. In addition some of the cases relate to findings from the recently released 2011 auditor-general's report, which documents widespread irregularities across the public administration. The indictments thus come amid growing pressure-from donors, civil society and the general public-for firmer action against corruption, and the government will seek to use the case to highlight its commitment to fight graft and embezzlement.

  Although 22 convictions on graft charges were secured in 2012, including that of the former mayor of the capital, Freetown, the anti-corruption fight has been undermined by lenient penalties. Most convicts are fined and avoid prison sentences as long as they pay. The country's judiciary is weak and hampered by inadequate resources, corruption and political interference. Despite several allegations against senior public officials, there has been a lack of high-profile cases, leading to an impression that powerful politicians and civil servants are untouchable.

  The latest indictments do not include any top-ranking officials either, but, coming soon after the suspension of the health officials and the publication of the auditor-general's report, they give an impression that the government will step up its anti-corruption efforts. The auditor-general's report revealed serious gaps in the country's management of the public finances and proved uncomfortable reading for the government. With living costs rising rapidly, job creation remaining slow and power shortages set to continue, the administration can ill afford to appear lax in its attitudes towards corruption.

  March 08, 2013

• 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. Ernest Bai Koroma was re-elected as president after winning 58.7% of the vote. In the legislative election, the ruling All People's Congress won 68 seats and the main opposition party, the Sierra Leone People's Party, 42 seats. The results in two constituencies are yet to be announced because of High Court injunctions

  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: Oluniyi Robbin-Coker

  Finance & economic development: Kaifala Marah

  Foreign affairs & international co-operation: Samura Kamara

  Health & sanitation: Miatta Kargbo

  Information & communications: Alpha Kanu

  Internal affairs: Joseph B Dauda

  Justice & attorney-general: Frank Kargbo

  Labour & social security: Mathew Teambo

  Lands, country planning & the environment: Musa Tarawalli

  Local government & rural development: Diana Konomani

  Marine resources & fisheries: Allieu Pat Sowe

  Mineral resources: Alhaji Minkailu Mansaray

  Public & political affairs: Alhaji Ibrahim Kemoh Sesay

  Social welfare, gender & children's affairs: Moijueh Kaikai

  Sports: Paul Kamara

  Tourism & cultural affairs: Peter Bajuku Konteh

  Trade & industry: Osman Boie Kamara

  Transport & aviation: Vandi Chidi Minah

  Youth: Alimamy Kamara

  Water resources: Momodu Maligi

  Works, housing & infrastructure: Alimamy Koroma

  Central bank governor

  Sheku Sesay

  March 19, 2013

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	14,215.0
  GDP (US$ bn)	2.0	1.9	1.9	2.2	3.3
  Real GDP growth (%)	5.5	3.2	4.9	6.0	17.9
  Consumer price inflation (av; %)	14.8	9.3	16.6	16.2	12.9
  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	796.8
  Imports of goods fob (US$ m)	471.2	511.9	735.9	1,629.2	1,677.3
  Current-account balance (US$ m)	-300.0	-291.0	-482.9	-1,220.1	-997.7
  Foreign-exchange reserves excl gold (US$ m)	189.7	215.3	224.8	260.4	352.5
  Exchange rate (av) Le:US$	2,981.5	3,385.7	3,978.1	4,349.2	4,344.7a
  a Actual. b The 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
  Diamondsbb	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)

  March 19, 2013

• Outlook

  Sierra Leone: Country outlook

  Sierra Leone: Country outlook

  FROM THE ECONOMIST INTELLIGENCE UNIT

  OVERVIEW: The overwhelming victory of the ruling All People's Congress (APC) in the 2012 elections and the consolidation of the peace-building process will foster political stability in Sierra Leone, although ethno-regional tensions will persist. Rapid 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 4.4% of GDP in 2014. After an estimated leap in real GDP growth to 17.9% in 2012, owing to the onset of iron ore production, growth will remain brisk in the 2013-14 forecast period at an average of 11.5%, supported by continued expansion in the mining sector. Average inflation is set to moderate to 11.1% in 2013 and 9.8% in 2014 as domestic agricultural production improves and world food prices fall. The current-account deficit is forecast to shrink from an estimated 30.5% of GDP in 2012 to 15.1% 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 investment 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 the APC. Moreover, the absence of any widespread violence surrounding the polls also suggests that the election will further consolidate the peace-building 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 main opposition party, the Sierra Leone People's Party-which has its stronghold among Mende communities in the south and east-said that the results of the polls were not credible and has accused the National Electoral Commission of bias towards the incumbent regime. This together with a highly partisan media, an ethnically imbalanced and bloated police force, and sporadic verbal as well as violent attacks against the opposition could cause ethnic tensions to rise, particularly given that the current administration is widely perceived as being dominated by Mr Koroma's supporters from APC strongholds among Temne and Limba communities in the northern districts. The politicisation of many state institutions, including the army and the judiciary, underlines the fact that tribalism remains deeply entrenched in the country's politics and that it will remain a threat to political stability. The Economist Intelligence Unit's 2012 democracy index ranks Sierra Leone 104th out of 167 countries worldwide, placing it the "hybrid" regimes category. The hype surrounding the country's economic potential-our estimate for GDP growth in 2012 is almost 18%-has raised people's expectations. With low formal job growth and a high rate of youth unemployment, 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's ability to plan, build and maintain large infrastructure projects is weak. In addition, persistent inflation 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. Tackling rampant official corruption was once again one of Mr Koroma's main election promises, but actions taken during his first term in office were ambiguous and undermined by lenient penalties, and failed to live up to people's expectations. A lack of resolute action on corruption-particularly following the recent publication of the 2011 auditor-general's report, which highlighted widespread corruption throughout the public sector-risks fostering a view that the administration is out of touch with the hardships facing most Sierra Leoneans. Nevertheless, although tribalism, corruption and slow progress on raising people's living standards will fuel popular resentment against the regime, we do not expect this to lead to widespread unrest or political instability.

  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 investment 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 economic growth and create jobs as part of its development strategy, the Agenda for Prosperity (2013-17), which will be officially launched later in 2013. However, implementation will be hindered by a constrained fiscal position and 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 requirements, is likely to replace the current one when 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 Bumbuna hydroelectric plant will continue to suffer from maintenance problems and although the government will be eager to advance the planned second development phase, which is expected to boost Bumbuna's capacity from 50 mw to 300 mw, the effects of this will not be felt during the forecast period. In addition, the country aims to reduce reliance on expensive imported rice and produce enough to meet domestic needs. However, inefficient farming techniques, weak rural infrastructure, and ineffective agricultural policies mean it will struggle to meet this objective. Several large foreign-financed agricultural investment deals, including in biofuels production, have been announced in recent years. 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 at least several years away. Revenue growth will be limited as signature bonuses from petroleum activities and other one-off sources of revenue from extractive industries will not be repeated. Moreover, ad hoc tax incentives have been granted to several mining companies, and a 15-year tax holiday on income from public-private partnership infrastructure projects costing more than US$20m as well as a tax relief for the tourism sector will be maintained. Owing to the rapid expansion of GDP, revenue as a percentage of GDP is expected to fall from an estimated 16.4% in 2012 to an average of 13.1% in 2013-14. Nevertheless, domestic revenue is expected to rise slightly in nominal terms, supported by improvements in the collection of the goods and services tax, stricter implementation of tax regulations, efforts to broaden the tax base, and reforms of the tax and customs administrations. The government will also seek to boost the contribution of the natural resources sector, mainly by introducing a resource rent tax. Nevertheless, the effects of this will be marginal as the new rules will not apply to existing deals. The government has also said that it wants to review existing agreements with mining companies, but any changes are likely to be gradual as it is eager not to scare off investors. Following high spending pressure in the run-up to the 2012 elections, the government will try to tighten fiscal policy, including by gradually reintroducing an automatic fuel-pricing mechanism and curbing public-sector pay increases. However, lax spending controls and growing popular expectations of improved public service delivery will undermine efforts to strengthen fiscal discipline. Despite the chronic need for investment in infrastructure, capital spending is expected to fall short of budgeted allocations as institutional capacity constraints make executing the full range of public investments unlikely. Moreover, arrears and unsettled payment obligations accumulated in previous years will weigh on the execution of the investment budget. We expect the fiscal deficit as a percentage of GDP to narrow from an estimated 5.2% in 2012 to 4.9% in 2013 and 4.4% in 2014 owing to higher mining royalties and improving revenue collection, as well as a sharp rise in nominal GDP. 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 and invest in transport facilities and port infrastructure. However, power shortages, infrastructure gaps 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 the forecast period. 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 continued efforts to boost rice production-supported by external donors-and improve farmers access to inputs and credit. 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. Real GDP grew by an estimated 17.9% in 2012 following the onset of iron ore production, and we forecast that it will expand by 12.6% in 2013 and 10.4% in 2014, once again, largely driven by mining activities.

  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 but 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 and mining sectors. 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 and rapid GDP growth, we forecast that the current-account deficit as a percentage of GDP will shrink from an estimated 30.5% in 2012 to 19.2% in 2013 and further to 15.1% in 2014. The deficit will mainly be financed by strong foreign direct investment inflows.

  March 20, 2013

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