The Economic Problems of Sierra Leone

Sierra Leone or the Republic of Sierra Leone is West African country that borders to the north and east with Guinea, to the southeast with Liberia, and to the west and southwest with Atlantic Ocean. It is a beautiful country with white sand beaches, orange and coconut trees all around, and people of good hearts; however Sierra Leone or Sa Lone in its native language, Krio, has been underdeveloped and was struggling for many years to gain its independence as a British Colony. Even thou, now Sierra Leone is a constitutional republic and got its independence 49-years ago, the country has been struggling with rebellious forces called Revolutionary United Force, and the corrupted government. Now, Sierra Lone is facing not only economic issues as one of the poorest nation in Africa, but also political issues that are triggered by years of the civil war and violence under Joseph Saidu Momoh, who was the President at the time, as well as social events that took an enormous lead on the country today’s situation. I would like to present the nature of underdevelopment of Sierra Leone based on economic issues such as: high poverty, economic dependence on advanced countries, and underdevelopment of industrialization and infrastructure because of the corrupt government. First, the economic underdevelopments of Third Word countries are characterized by: high poverty, high birthrates, and increasing population on small land-areas (Chaliand). Based on Sierra Leone’s Biodiversity and the Civil War Document, Sierra Leone’s poverty belongs to one of the highest among all African countries with 57% living on less than $1 dollar/day and 74% living on less than $2 dollars/day. While high poverty is a huge issue to Sierra Leoneans, high illiteracy (35% and low life expectancy (42 years for both sexes) are directly connected to the living standards in the country and equally affect one another ( Earth Trends The Environmental Information Portal). With rising poverty, diminishing

References: Country Profile: Sierra Leone. (2010, January 28). Retrieved August 20, 2010, from BBC News, http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/country_profiles/1061561.stm Chaliand, G. (n.d.). Third World Traveler. Retrieved August 18, 2010, from http://www.thirdworldtraveler.com/General/ThirdWorld_def.html Earth Trends: The Envirnomental Information Portal. (n.d.). Retrieved August 18, 2010, from http://earthtrends.wri.org/povlinks/country/sierra-leone.php People Statistics: Birth Rate by Country. (n.d.). Retrieved August 20, 2010, from NationMaster, http://www.nationmaster.com/graph/peo_bir_rat-people-birth-rate President Koroma’s Speech to Parliament. (2009, October 12). Retrieved August 15, 2010, http://www.sierraexpressmedia.com/archives/12645 Sierra Leone. (n.d.). Retrieved August 20, 2010, from Encyclopedia of the Nations, Sierra Leone - Location and size, Population, Manufacturing, Services, Tourism, Financial services http://www.nationsencyclopedia.com/economies/Africa/Sierra-Leone.html#ixzz0x7LelymZ Sierra Leone to Reduce Dependency on Foreign Aid. (n.d.),(2009, August 17). Retrieved August 17, 2010, from Daily Mail, http://www.sierraleonedailymail.com/archives/10 Sierra Leone’s Common Enemies: Poverty and Underdevelopment (2010, August 16). Retrieved August 15, 2010, from Sierra Express Media, http://www.sierraexpressmedia.com/archives/12645