Sierra Leone

Sierra Leone is blessed with incredible natural resources: minerals, fisheries, rich arable land, unspoilt coastline, and the third largest natural harbour in the world.

Yet Sierra Leone is also a country weighed down by its past and by the rest of the world’s refusal to look beyond it. The ten year civil war that ended in 2002 took its toll on Sierra Leone’s economy, infrastructure and institutions, and the country – once a successful West African economic and academic hub – found itself at the bottom of the UN Human Development Index.

But now a recovery is under way. According to the World Bank, Sierra Leone has shown the fastest improvement in political stability of any country in the world over the last decade. Since his victory in free and fair elections in 2007, President Ernest Bai Koroma has set about transforming Sierra Leone’s economy, kickstarting private sector-led growth, reforming government and tackling corruption. His Agenda for Change sets out a compelling vision of economic and human development, focusing on agriculture, infrastructure, energy, health and education.

The Sierra Leone Project was launched by President Koroma and Tony Blair on a visit to Freetown in June 2008, and a nine-strong team of experts have been on the ground in Freetown since October 2008. The project’s overall aim is to develop the capacity of government to deliver on the President’s Agenda for Change priorities and attract sustainable private investment in the country.

Team members are providing essential support in key government institutions including the Office of the President and the Ministries of Agriculture and Health.

Early successes include working with the new team in the President’s Strategy and Policy Unit to improve the quality of technical advice on his priority issues, supporting the development of performance contracts for Ministers, and helping to organise the landmark Sierra Leone Trade and Investment Forum in November 2009.

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.