Sierra Leone's Infrastructure : A Continental Perspective
Infrastructure has contributed significantly to the growth of West African economies during the past decade. In Sierra Leone, infrastructure added only around 0.51 percentage points to the per capita growth rate over 2003-07. Similarly to other cou...
Main Authors: | , |
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Format: | Report |
Language: | English en_US |
Published: |
World Bank, Washington, DC
2017
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Subjects: | |
Online Access: | http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/345051467990934557/Sierra-Leones-infrastructure-a-continental-perspective http://hdl.handle.net/10986/27260 |
Summary: | Infrastructure has contributed
significantly to the growth of West African economies during
the past decade. In Sierra Leone, infrastructure added only
around 0.51 percentage points to the per capita growth rate
over 2003-07. Similarly to other countries in the region and
the rest of the continent, the boost to historic growth came
predominately from the ICT (Information and
Telecommunications Technology) revolution while power-sector
deficiencies and poor roads held back growth. After nine
years of peace, economic activity is flourishing at every
level in Sierra Leone. Political stability, high government
accountability, good governance standards, and streamlined
tax reform helped Sierra Leone to become a bright success
story, turning the country into the easiest and quickest
place to start business in West Africa. Sierra Leone's
image in the eyes of investors is strengthened as the
country ranked as one of the top five countries in Africa
for investor protection. Looking ahead, the country faces a
number of critical infrastructure challenges. Perhaps the
most daunting of these challenges lies in the power sector,
the poor state of which retards development of other
sectors. Access to power is very low, at around 1 to 5
percent in urban areas, and is nonexistent in the
countryside. The country's installed power-generation
capacity is around 13 megawatts per million people, which is
lower than what other low-income and fragile states have
installed. The entire existing power infrastructure is
concentrated in the western part of the country, and even
with the functioning of the Bumbuna power plant, only half
the suppressed demand for Freetown, let alone that for the
rest of the country, is being met. Regardless of recent
reduction in tariffs, Sierra Leoneans still pay some of the
highest tariffs in Africa. In 2010, Sierra Leoneans paid
three times as much for power as did residents of African
countries that relied on hydropower. Making investments in
more cost-effective power generation options is therefore an
important strategic objective for Sierra Leone, without
which further electrification will simply be unaffordable
for the wider population. |
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