The first review of the ECF was delayed amid program slippages last year. The authorities exceeded the 2024 budget deficit by a sizable margin, and the BSL helped finance the overruns. At the same time, higher-than-expected government spending on imports and energy subsidies substantially...

At the request of the Government of Sierra Leone, an inter-departmental IMF team conducted a Governance and Corruption Diagnostic (GCD). The GCD provides a detailed assessment of governance and corruption vulnerabilities in key state functions of fiscal governance, financial sector oversight,...

Deforestation remains a major environmental concern in Sierra Leone, with implications for biodiversity, climate change and livelihoods. This underscores the urgency for sustainable forest practices. The study investigated the socio-economic determinants of deforestation in Sierra Leone. The...

Sierra Leone's creative economy is a significant yet underleveraged engine for diversification, youth employment, and cultural expression, contributing an estimated 4.5% of GDP and over 10% of formal employment. This Creative Economy Diagnostic and Roadmap analyzes the structure and performance...

This report is based on the quantitative data gathered as a part of the mixed-methods research project "Youth Labour Market Participation in Urban Sierra Leone" funded by the Fritz-Thyssen-Stiftung. A structured survey was administered in April 2025 in three urban centres: Freetown, Bo and...

"Trade Policy Reviews" analyse the trade policies and practices of each member of the WTO. The reviews consist of three parts: an independent report by the WTO Secretariat, a report by the government, and the concluding remarks by the Chair of the WTO's Trade Policy Review Body. The opening...

Sierra Leone's economy continues to navigate complex domestic and global challenges constraining growth and jeopardizing macro stability. Fiscal policies remained loose, and the deficit continued to exceed budget targets for the fourth consecutive year, hurting policy credibility and debt...

The Country Opinion Survey in Sierra Leone assists the World Bank Group (WBG) in better understanding how stakeholders in Sierra Leone perceive the WBG. It provides the WBG with systematic feedback from national and local governments, multilateral/bilateral agencies, media, academia, the private...

The Performance-Based Financing (PBF) program in Sierra Leone's Free Education Project aimed to improve primary education by linking funding to school performance metrics. Evaluating 5,074 schools from 2022 to 2024, the report highlights increased student enrollment by 17.5 percent and...

Despite its many assets and a promising recovery from the devastating civil war, Sierra Leone remains one of the poorest countries in the world. A rich mineral endowment, a young and increasingly educated population, and plentiful arable land coupled with favorable rainfall are some of the...

This report is intended to support the government of Sierra Leone in the development of a risk management action plan and for disaster risk financing investments. It was compiled with extensive analysis of crop and livestock production, price, and meteorological data records between 2003-2022....

A field-based-work mission to Sierra Leone was conducted in the framework of the Data for Decisions (D4D) Project and the Sierra Leone National Accounts rebasing project. The mission assisted the National Accounts and Economic Statistics Division (NAESD) of Statistics Sierra Leone (Stats SL) in...

Mining activity in developing countries is frequently associated with the most severe and disastrous environmental impacts, posing a threat to the survival and livelihoods of local communities where agriculture is the primary sustenance. Therefore, this article explores the effects of mining...

The onset of COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 highlighted the importance of digital technologies for remote learning and building better education technology (Edtech) ecosystem in the country. The 5-Year Education Sector Plan (ESP 2022-2026) developed in post pandemic period sets out ICT education...

Access to finance and equal economic opportunities are crucial for female entrepreneurs, fostering business growth and economic participation. Drawing on interviews with key stakeholders involved in the legal reform processes, this Brief examines how Sierra Leone made strides in its reform...

This study investigates relationships among green content marketing (GCM), green brand equity (GBE), technological capabilities (TC), and sustainable bank performance (SBP) in Sierra Leone's banking sector-a context of institutional fragility and low digital infrastructure. Despite growing green...

This study examines how Sierra Leone can transition to low carbon pathways for electricity production, reducing the dependence on fossil oil fuels that contributes to high emissions and volatility in fuel prices. The research utilized a mixed-modelling approach by soft-linking the OSeMOSYS...

This paper conducts a Bayesian assessment of a New Keynesian Dynamic Stochastic General Equilibrium (DSGE) model in the context of Sierra Leone's economy by utilising quarterly data from 2011 to 2022. It examines how monetary policy, demand shocks, and cost-push shocks affect selected...

Purpose: As traditional advertising gives way to customer-centric strategies such as content marketing (CM), this study aims to explore its impact on customer loyalty (CL) in the digital banking sector, focusing on online engagement and switching costs (SCs), while addressing the research gap in...

At the request of the Government of Sierra Leone, an inter-departmental IMF team conducted a Governance and Corruption Diagnostic (GCD). The GCD provides a detailed assessment of governance and corruption vulnerabilities in key state functions of fiscal governance, financial sector oversight,...

This report provides technical assistance to Sierra Leone in operationalizing its crisis management framework for banks, following the adoption of a legal framework for bank resolution and liquidation in 2019. Bank of Sierra Leone (BSL), the designated Resolution Authority, faces significant...

This paper conducts a Bayesian assessment of a New Keynesian Dynamic Stochastic General Equilibrium (DSGE) model in the context of Sierra Leone's economy by l utilising quarterly data from 2011 to 2022. It examines how monetary policy, demand shocks, and cost-push shocks affect selected...

This research investigates the potential impact of proposed tollgate price adjustments on inflation dynamics in Sierra Leone using a suite of Bayesian Vector Autoregressive (VAR) models with data from 2007M1 to 2024M1. Around 2015-2016, the government of Sierra Leone initiated a crucial road...

With the rising rate of youth unemployment worldwide, the situation has become unbearable, with the majority of them engaging in various social vices to sustain themselves. The governments of various nations, including Ghana and Sierra Leone, have devised a variety of policies to encourage the...

Sierra Leone faces important development challenges. This includes dealing with the impacts of climate change such as rising temperatures, more frequent extreme hot days, and increasingly erratic rainfall patterns, with intensified single-day precipitation events. This is especially important...

Sierra Leone faces important development challenges. This includes dealing with the impacts of climate change such as rising temperatures, more frequent extreme hot days, and increasingly erratic rainfall patterns, with intensified single-day precipitation events. This is especially important...

The Government of Sierra Leone (GoSL) has launched a new Medium-Term National Development Plan (MTNDP). Unlike the previous plans that were implemented for five years, the new plan will be executed for a period of seven years spanning 2024-2030, in order to be fully aligned with the remaining...

Political and social stability have been tested by a cost-of-living crisis, a coup attempt, and allegations of electoral fraud. To help maintain calm, the ruling coalition and the opposition released a joint statement promoting a constructive political dialogue. The Tripartite Committee...

The assistance assessed how climate change impacts and mitigation and adaptation responses are addressed in the public investment cycle using the Climate Module of the Public Investment Management Assessment (C-PIMA). Sierra Leone was found to perform moderately well in some areas of the Climate...

Sierra Leone faces significant climate-related challenges, including rising temperatures, unpredictable precipitation patterns, and increased risks of extreme weather events, which threaten its infrastructure and coastal communities. This assistance assessed Sierra Leone's public investment...

Increasing plastic pollution in Sierra Leone threatens not only the public health or the local economy, but also the national tourism sector. The volume of plastic waste visible on beaches in the Western Area of Sierra Leone has made plastic pollution a significant problem. Hotels reported that...

The survey shows that nationwide 21.1% of Sierra Leone households have access to electricity via the national grid (20.5%) or mini-grids (0.6%) and 14.7% have off-grid access. Off-grid sources predominantly include solar products such as solar lanterns, solar home systems, and solar lighting...

This Human Capital Review (HCR) report presents an in-depth analysis of human capital indicators throughout a person's lifetime, from in utero to productive aging. By examining the various stages of human capital accumulation, the report aims to provide accurate recommendations for specific...

Sierra Leone is one of the poorest countries in Sub-Saharan Africa, with a gross national income per capita of USD 510 in 2022. The country ranked near the bottom of all countries in the latest Human Development Index. Despite these low rankings, in the years since the end of the 10-year civil...

The African continent needs $68-108 billion in new financing each year to bridge its critical infrastructure gaps, according to President Adesina of the African Development Bank. Meanwhile, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) calculates that climate change adaptation alone will cost Africa up...