Sierra Leone, officially the Republic of Sierra Leone, informally Salone, is a country on the southwest coast of West Africa. It is bordered by Liberia to the southeast and Guinea surrounds the northern half of the nation whose capital is Freetown. Sierra Leone has a tropical climate with a diverse environment ranging from savanna to rainforests, with a total area of 71,740 km2 (27,699 sq mi).
The current population of Sierra Leone is 8,462,867 as of Monday, July 3, 2023, based on Worldometer elaboration of the latest United Nations data.
Julius Maada Wonie Bio (born 12 May 1964) is a Sierra Leonean politician and the current president of Sierra Leone since 4 April 2018.
Sierra Leone is extremely poor and nearly half of the working-age population engages in subsistence agriculture
Sierra Leone’s economic development has always been hampered by an overdependence on mineral exploitation. Successive governments and the population as a whole have always believed that “diamonds and gold” are sufficient generators of foreign currency earnings and lure for investment.
As a result, large-scale agriculture of commodity products, industrial development, and sustainable investments have been neglected by governments.
In recent years, economic growth has been driven by mining, particularly iron ore. The country’s principal exports are iron ore, diamonds, and rutile, and the economy is vulnerable to fluctuations in international prices.
The Government of Sierra Leone defines youth as those between ages 15 and 35. Approximately 2.5 million of Sierra Leone’s population are youths.
Youth have constituted the most significant sub-category of growth in the Sierra Leonean demographics since independence. They have consistently accounted for over 45% of the entire population, which points to one of the largest youth budges in the world.
The future development of Sierra Leone is based on Vision 2025, this vision has the objective to create a better future for Sierra Leone a future that is characterized by the virtuous circle of peace, stability, and wealth creation, in place of the vicious circle of poverty and underdevelopment.
Business opportunities in Sierra Leone
The country recommends that foreign investors think about agriculture, agribusiness, fisheries, and tourism sectors, and can undertake ventures in infrastructure like in energy (including renewables), manufacturing, construction, communication, and transportation, and in other sectors like education, finance, health, and natural resources.