Sub Saharan Africa

Sierra Leone
Last reviewed: 25 February 2009

Country information

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Trade and investment

Trade and investment with the UK

UK exports of goods to Sierra Leone, which consist of a diverse range of goods, machinery and road vehicles, were worth £26.14m in 2005 and fell to £18.5m in 2006, while UK imports from Sierra Leone, principally ferous ores and metal scrap were valued at £4.3m in 2006 up from £1.24 million in 2005.

In March 2006 a Commonwealth Business Council forum in Sierra Leone was held successfully with attendees from all around the world.

Commonwealth Business Council forum

Development

Sierra Leone lies towards the bottom of the UNDP's Human Development Index, ranked 176 out of 177 countries. Poverty is high, 57% live on less than a dollar a day and 74% live on less than $2 a day. The large diaspora provides a safety net with significant remittances going back home. Sierra Leone's tradition of high education standards has been eroded in the past two decades. Almost two-thirds of the population are now illiterate, although school attendance has gone up significantly since the end of the war. The RUF rebellion also caused massive population displacement and prevented the delivery of services to the countryside. Some recent progress has been registered, including on food security, but reversing the damage is a long-term and costly task.

The IMF has provided significant funding for poverty reduction programmes but it has expressed its concern at the lack of progress. The UK's Department for International Development has made a long term commitment to Sierra Leone. A memorandum of understanding was signed in November 2002. DfID have undertaken to provide £120m over three financial years (2003/4 to 2005/6), and to provide long term support beyond that. The DfID effort is concentrated on reforming the civil service, the security sector and the judiciary and stimulating the private sector. Currently around a third of DfID funds are given to the government in the form of direct budgetary support.

Sierra Leone's National Commission for Social Action

DFID - Sierra Leone

United Nations Development Programme (UNDP)

World Bank

EU Directorate Development