6 million population (60% under 25), rural poverty is 66%, merchandise exports are 1500x smaller than USAs, services are 0.18billion, HDI = 0.374
sierra leone's partnerships
heavily dependent on USA, UK and China, and has bilateral relationships with China and the UK. a member of ECOWAS. main exports include cocoa beans and coffee and imports include rice and machinery
what are sierra leones economic limiting factors
lack of skills, poor infrastructure, overly dependant on primary products, sub-optimal productivity
what are sierra leones environmental limiting factors
disease like malaria, agri-businesses and deforestation
what are sierra leones social limiting factors
70% under 25 are unemployed, 90% no secondary education, women are unequal, child labour
what are sierra leones political limiting factors
civil war set back development (1992 until 2002), lack of confidence so won't invest, corruption, inability to control crime
what challenges does sierra leone face
= environmental challenges, mining and agri-businesses have resulted in soil erosion and deforestation.
= need to improve and invest in infrastructure to access global supplychains
= need to fix social inequalities to improve labour force (e.g. gender is ranked 139th)
what opportunities are there for sierra leone
= 3 successful democratic elections
= china bilateral partnership (built hospital in freetown) and UK bilateral partnership (reduced crime and humanrights violations)
= member of ECOWAS reduces tariffs
= small holder commercialisation programme (tractors and improved roads)