By Alpha Abu
A just-released World Bank Update on Sierra Leone’s Economy has recognised the Government’s sustained momentum on its long-term structural reform agenda, with “several landmark reforms introduced during 2022 and the first half of 2023’’.
The report cites improvement in fiscal management during the first half of 2023 but acknowledges the “need for even stronger commitment to reforms’’ in light of below-target budgetary performance.
The report says Sierra Leone’s economy faced significant disruptions from both domestic and external factors- noting overlapping shocks beginning in the year 2020 brought about by COVID-19, the Russia-Ukraine war which has disrupted the supply chain, and the cost of living crisis engendered by the rise in prices and depreciation.
According to the report “The economy in 2022 was buoyed by a continued yet timid recovery in agriculture, robust growth in mining output, and growth in trade, transport, and communication services. The resumption of key iron ore mining operations ramped up output in 2022. On the demand side, growth – driven strongly by higher-than-expected public spending – was held back by low private consumption, in part due to inflationary pressures that squeezed household budgets, and the tightening of financial conditions that limited private domestic and foreign direct investment’’.
One of President Julius Maada Bio’s Big Five Agenda is ‘’Feed Salone’’- an ambitious initiative to revolutionise the agricultural sector and achieve Food Security. The World Bank report acknowledges “Government initiatives to privatize the agricultural input market and expand access to mechanization’’ that have ‘’also progressively contributed to improvements in yields’’.
“The government’s quick response in controlling an Anthrax outbreak earlier in the year safeguarded the livestock sector, while increased private sector investments in fishing sustained a gradual pick up in output. Industrial activity remained robust thanks to continued growth in mining and construction’’, the report states.
But the World Bank report was not complementary in other areas citing worsening food insecurity, and increased dependence on imports including the country’s staple food rice, requiring 6000,000 (six hundred thousand) metric tons of grain per year which accounts for over 200 (two hundred) million United States Dollars in forex.
Also, a Press Release from the World Bank says: “The report notes that some 4.5 million people (55 percent of the population) have insufficient food consumption, 3.9 million (48 percent of the population) have crisis or above crisis-level food-based coping strategies, and 3.22 million (38 percent of the population) face challenges accessing markets’’.
It was also stated that “while the rate of chronic undernourishment is relatively stable (with a slight upward trend), .. “Rapid population growth means that the size of the problem is steadily increasing in absolute terms’’.
“GDP growth slowed to 3.5 percent in 2022 (from 4.1 percent the year before), while inflation rose from 12 percent in 2021 to 27 percent in 2022. By August 2022, 81 percent of households found themselves unable to cater to their fundamental food and nutrition necessities. Moreover, the average intake of calories and proteins per individual is not only below the average for Africa, but is also diminishing, especially in terms of proteins’’, a supplement from World Bank’s External Affairs Officer, Moses A. Kargbo states.
Anna Twum, World Bank Economist and one of the lead authors of the report said: “As food insecurity remains an urgent challenge, mitigation measures should leverage existing safety net programs to buttress incomes and enhance short-term food availability and access for the most food-insecure and vulnerable households, particularly women and children”.
The institution is of the view that tough Macroeconomic policies are needed to stabilize Sierra Leone’s economy.
The World Bank 2023 Sierra Leone Economic Update is titled “Enhancing Value Chains to Boost Food Security’’. It was launched at Sierra Palms Hotel, Freetown on 27th October, 2023.
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