Sierra Leone

Sierra Leone is a country taking ever greater strides away from its troubled past.

The ten-year civil war that ended in 2002 took its toll on Sierra Leone’s economy, infrastructure and institutions, and the country found itself at the bottom of the UN Human Development Index. However, a recovery is well under way. Blessed with abundant natural resources –  minerals, fisheries, rich arable land, an unspoilt coastline, and the third largest natural harbour in the world – Sierra Leone can now look forward with hope once more.

Sierra Leone’s 2007 elections were important milestones for the country’s development, as these polls represented the first time that a democratically elected government in Sierra Leone was replaced by another democratically elected government. President Ernest Bai Koroma has pledged to run his government “like a business”, and has focused his “Agenda for Change” on re-building Sierra Leone’s economy, reforming the public sector, and tackling corruption, as a means to achieving economic and human development.

But the powerful progress achieved so far is fragile, and accelerating Sierra Leone’s reconstruction by meeting the President’s ambitious goals on private sector growth, infrastructure, healthcare and agriculture will be challenging, requiring significant change in the government’s ability to set and deliver its priorities.

Scoping work for the Sierra Leone Project began in January 2008 and the project was launched in June of the same year. The project’s overarching aim is to develop the capacity of the Government to set and deliver its priorities – which are squarely focused on lifting Sierra Leone out of poverty.

A team of 8-10 staff have been on the ground in Sierra Leone since October 2008, providing support in key government institutions, including the Office of the President and the Ministries of Agriculture and Health. The project, which will run until 2012, aims to align its efforts squarely behind the policy priorities most central to Sierra Leone’s reconstruction: healthcare, agriculture, and development of a vibrant private sector.

To watch Tony Blair and President Koroma talking about Sierra Leone at the Clinton Global Initiative, click here.

To watch Tony Blair and Minister of Trade David Carew talk about investment in Sierra Leone at the Trade and Investment Forum, click here.

To contact the Sierra Leone team, click here.