Sierra Leone
Human Factors
Physical Capital
Technological Capital
Economic Factors
Political and Institutional
Obstacles to development
Resources and Potential

Natural Factors
Diamonds, titanium ore, Bauxite, iron ore gold, Chromite
Natural resources: Diamonds, rutile, bauxite, gold, iron ore, ilmenorutile, platinum, chromite, manganese, cassiterite, molybdenite, as well as forests, abundant fresh water, and rich offshore fishing grounds. 

arable land: 7.95%
permanent crops: 1.05%
other: 91% 


Population 6,440,053
70% below poverty line
Growth rate 2.282%

Very high degree of risk for:
food or waterborne diseases
water contact disease
aerosolized dust or soil contact disease
55000 living with aids (3300 deaths/ year)
Literacy rate:
male: 46.9%, female: 24.4%
total population: 35.1%
School life Expectancy (primary – tertiary education)
male: 8 years, female: 6 years
total: 7 years

GDP per capita (PPP)
$800 (2006)
$800 (2007)
$900 (2008)
$1000 (2009)
Western Africa, bordering the North Atlantic Ocean, between Guinea and Liberia 

GDP:
agriculture: 49%
industry: 31%
services: 21% (2005 est.)

Agriculture: Products--coffee, cocoa, ginger, palm kernels, palm oil, cassava, bananas, citrus, peanuts, cashews, plantains, rice, sweet potatoes, vegetables, cattle, fish, pigs, poultry, sheep. Land--30% potentially arable, 8% cultivated. 
Distribution of  income:
lowest 10%: 2.6%
highest 10%: 33.6% 

Gini index:
62.9
Education expeditures
3.8% of GDP
Ethnic groups: 20 African ethnic groups--Temne 30%, Mende 30%, other 30%; Krio (Creole) 10%; refugees from Liberia’s recent civil war; and small numbers of Europeans, Indians, Pakistanis, and Lebanese. 

Religions: (est.) Muslim 60%, Christian 30%, animist 10%. 

Languages: English, Krio, Temne, Mende, and 15 other indigenous languages. 

Work force: 
Agriculture--52.5%; 
industry--30.6%; 
services--16.9%. 
Trade: Exports--$216 million: rutile, diamonds, bauxite, coffee, cocoa, fish. 

Major destinations of exports--Belgium 49.3%, U.S. 20.5%, Netherlands 4.5%, Canada 4.1% 

Imports--$560 million: foodstuffs, machinery and equipment, fuel and lubricants, chemicals, pharmaceuticals, building materials, light consumer goods, used clothing, textiles. 

Main origins of imports--Cote d’Ivoire 10% (fuel), China 10% (manufactured goods), U.S. 9.5%, U.K. 6.2%, Netherlands 5.1%, India 4%.

Government 
Type: Republic with a democratically elected president and unicameral parliament. 

Independence: From Britain, April 27, 1961. 

Major parties--Sierra Leone People’s Party (SLPP), All People's Congress (APC), and People’s Movement for Democratic Change (PMDC).


There are four mobile telephone providers, some offer wireless broadband Internet service.

Four additional licensed mobile telephone providers exist across the country. 


Poverty Trap
Due to the large agricultural sector(primary), the secondary sector (manufacturing) is not thriving. There fore no foregn investment is enetering Sierra LEone as  foreigners see no possible profits.
A reason for this is thee limited acces to the enitre country and the communication between difrent cities in Sierra Leone.
Unless Sierra Leon seriously allocates more workers to the manufacturing indusrty, which they can do my increasing acces to arable land and there  fore attrcting foreign investment,  they will be stuck in a poverty cycle.

Sierra Leone has made significant political gains since the end of its devastating 1991-2001 civil war, including holding two peaceful post-war elections in 2002 and 2007. 


The Anti-Corruption Act adopted in September 2008 greatly boosted the powers of the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC). The new law integrates both local and international statutes on fighting corruption, including those enshrined in the UN Convention against Corruption and the African Union’s Convention on Preventing and Combating Corruption 



Externalities



There is much potential for Sierra Leone, ever since the end of the civil war, which was fueled by corruption and exploitation of exports, the country has shown improvement.

They have a huge unemployed population, with 52% between 15 and 65.

Unskilled labor- so they can be trained to work new jobs

Annually Sierra Leone produces between 250 - 300 million US dollars. 

Due to the high demand for work in Sierra Leone they can offer Cheap labor, which should attract foreign investment even more.

Sierra Leone is rich in minerals, they rely of mining especially diamonds as their economic base. 
Their main foreign currency earner are mineral exports, they are major gem- quality diamond producers


Though Sierra Leone is rich in diamonds, it has struggled in the past to manage exploitation and export. A lot of the money is smuggled and used for financing illicit activities. However formal export has improved since the end of the civil war

Diamonds have been the cause of widespread death, destruction and misery for almost a decade in Sierra Leone.

The mineral industry in Sierra Leone should have been a good prospect for the growth of Sierra Leone, however because of western exploitation especially by Belgium, Sierra Leone was unable to use their resources efficiently and to formally export their diamonds.




Also…The country is still re-establishing connectivity 

The quality of mobile phone services varies widely across the four providers which all use second generation technology. 
For some, coverage is mainly limited to Freetown, the national capital.

No economic connection to foreign countries.

on average, 73 minutes from where households are located (in rural areas, it takes 100 minutes or more to reach a clinic or hospital) and that distances to schools are an impediment to enrollment, particularly for poorer households.

The accessibility indicator in rural areas remains low and is currently estimated at 33 percent. 

During the period of civil unrest (1995-1999) Sierra Leone's transport infrastructure suffered from widespread destruction and lack of maintenance. 

Seriously degraded roads left whole sections of the country and isolated communities cut off from the rest of the country, while the Port of Freetown and Freetown International Airport underwent successive rounds of destruction,

 endangering the country's economic lifelines to the outside world.


Large primary sector, not attracting foreign investment- only two major cities are accesible (freetown and Bo)

So many isolated communities



financing up to 35 million dollars is required to assist sierra leons government to rehabilitate selected priority roads, port, and airport facilities; and to support  and regulate the reform and the effective management of Sierra Leons infrastructure



Wanting to invest in manufacturing

Firms will want to extract exportable commodities


Creating more jobs in the secondary sector

Thus expanding the secondary sector, creating jobs for unemployed and workers from primary sector

This would increase savings-> increase investment-> create large capital stock-> increase output-> finally increasing income..



Similar Projects

formal and informal markets


lack of infrastructure
Institutional and political obstacles
International trade obstacles
overdependence on primary products, consequences of adverse terms of trade, consequences of a narrow range of exports, 

Formal proposal

Financial Obstacles
Higher world food and fuel prices in the first half of 2008 pushed up import values to 22.9 per cent of GDP. 

Exports declined from 17.1 per cent of GDP in 2007 to 15.6 per cent in 2008. 

The services balance also deteriorated,  contributing to a widening of the current account deficit, to an estimated 5.9 per cent of GDP in 2008 from 3.8 per  cent in 2007. In 2009 and 2010, improvements in the trade deficit, services and net factor income are expected to  narrow the deficit to the 4.5 per cent range.

Gross foreign reserves amounted to USD 211.4 million (equivalent of about three and half months of import cover) as  of September 2008.

Total external debt stock stood at USD 599 million in September 2008

With debt relief, debt service payments have fallen from USD 45 million in recent years to USD 13 million for 2009. 

A debt sustainability analysis conducted in April 2008 showed that Sierra Leone’s external debt remains sustainable in the medium to long term. 


However, the country is still faced with a moderate risk of debt distress in the event of a  serious external shock. 

9.08 births/1,000 population 

12.22 deaths/1,000 population 

Fertility rate- 5 chiodren per woman






$4.53 billion US dollars GDP( PPP)



GDP - real growth rate:

2% (2009 est.)


Exports - commodities:

diamonds, rutile, cocoa, coffee, fish

Exports - partners:

Belgium 35.6%, US 20.1%, India 15.2%, France 4.9% (2008)


Imports - commodities:

foodstuffs, machinery and equipment, fuels and lubricants, chemical

inflation 13%

Budget:

revenues: $96 million
expenditures: $351 million (2000 est.)





Industries

diamond mining; small-scale manufacturing (beverages, textiles, cigarettes, footwear); petroleum refining, small commercial ship repair 

South Africa
The Second Transport Project for South Africa will expand, improve, and modernize the State owned railroads and related transport services. This process will relieve the growing pressure on the South African railway system. The project components are: 1) construction of double track lines, heavier rail and road beds, enlargement of marshalling yards, relocation of lines, correction of curves and grades, provision of additional spurs, lengthened sidings, and other line improvements;