Recent reforms in Sierra Leone: Beating the effects of global economic downturn

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Pay phone operator in FreetownThe year 2011 ended on a high note for the reformers in Sierra Leone.  There were two significant reforms which the government saw through – reforms that had been long overdue, but which now hold the potential of unleashing new investments and economic growth in the country.  Can Sierra Leone’s use these reforms to beat the potential effects of a global economic downturn?  One hopes so.

The energy sector in Sierra Leone has long faced under-investments. Not very long ago Freetown had the dubious distinction of being the darkest capital in the world and the Bumbuna dam remained elusive. 

Since the completion of the dam, Freetown has been benefitting from its power, albeit at reduced levels.  Still, the energy sector suffers from years of neglect and governance challenges.  With astonishingly high levels of technical and commercial losses (estimated to be nearly 50%), new investments in the energy sector are unlikely to deliver returns unless this hemorrhage is stopped.  So in December, the government got the Parliamentary nod for two significant laws to strengthen the regulatory environment and improve the performance of the utility – setting up of an independent regulator and unbundling the electricity sector.

Bumbuna dam in Sierra LeoneThere is still a long way to go before the country can fully benefit from its abundant hydropower potential, but implementing the new laws is clearly on the critical path.

Another sector with significant growth potential across Africa is the telecommunication and ICT sector.  Sierra Leone too has seen some exciting developments with the recent arrival of the submarine cable.  But the existing monopoly for the international telecom gateway has been constraining the sector from realizing its full growth potential.  The total outgoing telecom traffic only grew by 55% during 2006-08, while some other countries in the sub-region saw 200% growth during the same period.  There is also the problem of a large share of traffic diverted through illegal operators, because of the monopoly, leading to a loss of revenues for the country.  And the net loser is the average person on the street, who spends $0.22 a minute for an international call – two to three times what their counterparts in other African countries pay. The government has now publicly announced a firm timetable for revoking the monopoly of the gateway later this year (which would allow other operators to manage gateways in the future), and undertaking revisions to the existing telecommunication law to increase competition in the sector.

Both these reforms have no doubt been tough, but they could unleash a lot of economic activity and jobs.  Coming on the back of Sierra Leone’s recent impressive performance in the Doing Business scores, they suddenly makes both these sectors look that much more attractive to investors and entrepreneurs.  No doubt, the enormous spin-offs from a vibrant energy and telecom sector would only benefit the people of the country in the coming years.  There is still a lot of work to be done in implementing these reforms – which would require resoluteness -- but nevertheless it has been a great way to end the year for the country. 
 

Authors

Vijay Pillai

World Bank Country Manager for Sierra Leone

Arvind Nair
February 04, 2012

As a friend of Sierra Leone, and having recently worked there, it makes me happy to hear news of progress. Reconstruction is a slow process but SL has definitely made progress on several dimensions- political, security and now, increasingly, economic- which is a fact that needs to be highlighted more. The submarine cable and the subsequent increase in connectivity especially has the power to change many lives in the country.

Patrick Culverton
February 16, 2012

The Bank support recognizes the need for government to continue prudent economic management by managing the likely wage pressures and continued due diligence in the implementation of infrastructure projects – more so at a time when Sierra Leone could be adversely affected by the impacts of a potential global economic downturn.

Anonymous
May 25, 2012

Mr. Pillai - Found you in Africa !!!

Sudiptoroy19@rediffmail.com

Ibrahim Kargbo
March 13, 2020

It feels good to hear SL is making progress in this areas.