challenges of doing business in sierra leone

LEWAF's objective is to eradicate gender-based violence . Although there have been minor ethnic tensions and religious differences, on the whole Sierra Leone has been fortunate to escape the kinds of severe ethnic and/or religious conflicts seen in other parts of Africa. I must also cite the work of UNICEF and several NGOs who have had such a positive impact on our children, including child soldiers; amputees; rape victims and other traumatized groups. Reimer hosts MCC CEO visit in Freetown as the U.S. and Sierra Leone Finalize Compact Development, Geneva: Ambassador Gberie meets with Ambassador Schaer, others, From Rotary Peace Fellow to Rotarian: Teddy Foday-Musa inducted, Sierra Leone Parliament debates the Child Rights Act, 2022, The Patriotic Vanguard, Sierra Leone News Portal. USA.gov|FOIA|Privacy Program|EEO Policy|Disclaimer|Information Quality Guidelines |Accessibility, Official Website of the International Trade Administration, Comply with U.S. and Foreign Export Regulations. Addax is busy establishing a large-scale sugar cane-to-ethanol factory in Sierra Leoneto service the European market. The indicators below describe dimensions of minority investors' protections. We provided technical support to DSTI in formulating the HCD Incubator and designing the EIC. Facing a Foreign Trade AD/CVD or Safeguard Investigation? The ease of shareholder suits index measures how likely are plaintiffs to access internal corporate evidence and recover legal expenses. The time and cost for border compliance include time and cost for obtaining, preparing and submitting documents during port or border handling, customs clearance and inspection procedures. WASHINGTON, July 30, 2020 The World Bank Board of Executive Directors approved a $40 million grant from the International Development Association (IDA) to support investment and growth of Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) in non-mining productive sectors. Our Reporter - October 24, 2019. The challenge of exporting. The challenges required for a business to obtain a permanent electricity connection for a newly constructed warehouse are shown below. The government also implemented the UNCTAD ASYCUDA World System, an online system that enhances trading across borders. The quality of land administration index has five dimensions: reliability of infrastructure, transparency of information, geographic coverage, land dispute resolution, and equal access to property rights. They include: Long periods of poor and unaccountable governance; Cost is recorded as a percentage of the warehouse value. The mobile application works offline and only requires internet connectivity to sync collected data. [Online]. The Tony Blair Institute for Global Change supports political leaders and governments to build open, inclusive and prosperous societies in a globalised world. DISPUTE RESOLUTION. Furthermore, equity shares of every registered foreign entity in Sierra Leone must include 20 percent Sierra Leonean ownership for the government to grant such firms preferential treatment when competing for government contracts. Deviating from development orthodoxy is often punished by reduced aid and any attempt to pursue a different approach is met with resistance and sometimes hostility. The recovery rate calculates how many cents on the dollar secured creditors recover from an insolvent firm at the end of insolvency proceedings. facebook.com/instituteglobal Businesses work on profit and loss. Fixing Sierra Leones education system is a perennial challenge. In 2018, Sierra Leone also joined the African Continental Free Trade Agreement which brings together fifty-four African countries with a combined population of more than one billion in a single continental market for goods and services. When faced with the collapse of security, many traditional donors refuse all assistance to non-lethal military needs, police or prisons. decentralized governance and are devolving some power and resources to the district councils to broaden participation in governance; The measure captures the median duration that local experts indicate is necessary to complete a procedure in practice. The measure captures the median duration that incorporation lawyers indicate is necessary to complete a procedure with minimum follow-up with government agencies and no extra payments. Share 0. A midline assessment was conducted in the first quarter of 2021 following the first year of the EIC. Certainly this list is not exhaustive but I think, taken as a whole, it captures some of the socio-cultural constraints as well as economic challenges we have faced. This indicator reports the number of individuals and firms listed by a credit bureau with information on their borrowing history from the past 5 years. Currently, you are using a shared account. Doing business in Sierra Leone is difficult but overcoming the challenges is not impossible, says Nikolai Germann, managing director of Addax Bioenergy in Ernst & Young's 2011 Afri. 2. (1,776.5 KB, pdf) Download snapshot. Very high poverty rates placing the country for many years at the bottom of the UN Human Development Index; Young people make up 80% of Sierra Leone's population. Given our experience with Ebola, we knew radio was the better medium for reaching not only children in remote areas but also those in the cities given the poor internet connectivity nationwide in Sierra Leone. 15697 views, The Patriotic Vanguard 2009 All rights reserved. Download profile. OMA Group offers ship agency, logistics and energy support services throughout the Sub-Saharan Africa. The first two, like Egypt, benefited from enormous quantities of American aid and the latter two city-state examples are anomalies. TheInternational Trade Administration,U.S. Department of Commerce, manages this global trade site to provide access to ITA information on promoting trade and investment, strengthening the competitiveness of U.S. industry, and ensuring fair trade and compliance with trade laws and agreements. The ideas and views I plan to share with you this morning reflect the experience of many in the Government of Sierra Leone, but I alone am responsible for the content of this presentation. The World Bank Doing Business 2020 report ranked Argentina 126th for 'ease of doing business'. As the third wave of Covid-19 hit Sierra Leone in the third quarter of 2021, the NaCOVERCs ICT pillar conducted another refresher training session on use of the application, with support from DSTI. The rank of Sierra Leone remained unchanged at 163 in 2019 from 163 in 2018. I would like to consider these three questions in the order in which I have just presented them and then conclude by making some more general observations about the challenges faced by our government in its attempt to deliver the key ingredients of a stable society: genuine democratic governance, equitable and rapid economic growth leading to broad-based and sustainable development. The postfiling index is based on four componentstime to comply with VAT refund, time to obtain VAT refund, time to comply with a corporate income tax correction and time to complete a corporate income tax correction. Data and Evidence for Decision-Making: The Human Capital Development (HCD) Incubator, Use of Technology Informed by Local Context: The Quarantine Application, Lessons and Recommendations for Delivering Tech Public-Service Solutions in Low-Income Countries, James Fomba (Pillar Lead, Quarantine Pillar, NaCOVERC), https://institute.global/policy/how-sierra-leone-using-technology-data-and-innovation-overcome-service-delivery-challenges. Designed by Richard Songo, Environment: The Green Scenery example in Sierra Leone, Ebola persists but raging heads fight about politics, Short story: When the bullied becomes the redeemer, Sierra Leone: War of words between opposition parliamentarian and EU Ambassador, Message of Congratulations to His Excellency Julius Maada Bio President of the Republic of Sierra Leone, Amb. *This symbol is shown beside procedure numbers that take place simultaneously with the previous procedure. When independently tested in 2014, 97 per cent of students in class 2 scored zero in reading comprehension. Activities and Societies: Peace Corp. February 28, 2021. It is written by Brian C. Pinkham, Ken Mark and shed light on critical areas in . Executing agencies are sometimes overwhelmed with requests for information; missions that arrive with little or no advance notice; extra reports and requests by visiting missions for weekend trips to see projects. Sierra Leone's Ministry of Health was able to draw on the country's past experience with Ebola in responding to the Covid-19 pandemic. The African Development Bank-backed Bumbuna hydropower plant meant to provide electricity to Sierra Leonians and thus boost the economy was inaugurated on November 6, 2009. Donor staff visiting Sierra Leone come to work with local agencies and sometimes fail to understand the very real constraints to efficiency and productivity facing executing agencies who struggle with erratic electric supplies; a lack of running water; power surges that wipe out hard drives despite voltage regulators; the effects of malaria and other illnesses on staff and their families; the difficulties of staff who must work and write in a foreign language; the high cost of vehicle maintenance caused by terrible roads and, consequently, expect too few staff to do too much work in too little time. Let me now comment briefly on our successes since the end of the war in 2002 and then turn to the impact of external efforts on these issues and realities. At the same time, many contacts undergoing the 14-day quarantine complained about inadequate or inconsistent services. It is these factors, accumulated over the past 40 years, in addition to the physical destruction caused by war, that both external efforts and government have tried to address. The failures are ours, but not ours alone. We believe this makes the human being fit for purpose in the 21st century and all ready to fully partake in the global economy; health care by strengthening our health care systems and services; and food security. Photo credit: Getty Images. For many, it was outright uncomfortable not knowing if they would receive sufficient support while quarantining. TheInternational Trade Administration,U.S. Department of Commerce, manages this global trade site to provide access to ITA information on promoting trade and investment, strengthening the competitiveness of U.S. industry, and ensuring fair trade and compliance with trade laws and agreements. Consider how corporate social responsibility policies and corporate giving programmes can be professionalized; linked to the PRSP and increase their impact by building synergies with public sector development initiatives. A weakening of national sovereignty and decision-making authority when loans and grants come with many and sometimes difficult terms and conditions and are then micro-managed by the donor institution.. Viewed more broadly from the perspective of the developing world, there appears to be an assumption of a global consensus - which is really a Western consensus - on how a country should develop. Agriculture and fishing are the mainstay of most of the population, though much of this is subsistence farming and artisanal fishing. Statista. In 2020, the World Bank ranked the country 58 out of 190 countries with a 91 percent score for easing the process of starting a business, one of ten indicators used in . DB 2020 Dealing with Construction Permits Score, DB 2020 Protecting Minority Investors Score, Details Starting a business in Sierra Leone Procedures, time and cost, Figure Starting a business in Sierra Leone Procedures, time and cost, Figure Starting a business in Sierra Leone Scores (0-100), Details Dealing with construction permits in Sierra Leone Procedures, time and cost, Details Dealing with construction permits in Sierra Leone Measure of quality, Figure Dealing with construction permits in Sierra Leone Procedures, time and cost, Figure Dealing with construction permits in Sierra Leone Scores (0-100), Details Getting electricity in Sierra Leone Procedures, time and cost, Details Getting electricity in Sierra Leone Measure of quality, Figure Getting electricity in Sierra Leone Procedures, time and cost, Figure Getting electricity in Sierra Leone Scores (0-100), Details Registering property in Sierra Leone Procedures, time and cost, Details Registering property in Sierra Leone Measure of quality, Figure Registering property in Sierra Leone Procedures, time and cost, Figure Registering property in Sierra Leone Scores (0-100), Details Credit information in Sierra Leone, Figure Getting credit in Sierra Leone Score (0-100), Details Protecting Minority Investors in Sierra Leone Measure of quality, Figure Protecting Minority Investors in Sierra Leone Score (0-100), Details Paying taxes in Sierra Leone - Tax by type, Details Paying taxes in Sierra Leone Measure of quality, Figure Paying taxes in Sierra Leone Scores (0-100), Details Trading across borders in Sierra Leone Components of border compliance, Details Trading across borders in Sierra Leone Trade documents, Details Trading across borders in Sierra Leone Domestic transport, Figure Trading across borders in Sierra Leone Scores (0-100), Details Enforcing contracts in Sierra Leone, Details Enforcing contracts in Sierra Leone Measure of quality, Figure Enforcing contracts in Sierra Leone Scores (0-100), Details Resolving insolvency in Sierra Leone, Details Resolving insolvency in Sierra Leone Measure of quality, Figure Resolving insolvency in Sierra Leone Scores (0-100), http://www.doingbusiness.org/en/methodology. In addition, teacher training encompasses all the selected innovations. A no practice economy receives a score of 0 on the reliability of supply and transparency of tariff index regardless of the regulatory practices that are applicable to the reliability of supply and transparency of tariffs. Government was not only in difficulty, it was in exile while a cabal of soldier-rebels looted the capital city and much of the wealth of the diamond producing areas of the country, embarked on large-scale destruction of social and economic infrastructure, oppressed and abused ordinary people and accelerated the internal displacement of about two million citizens and the flow of about half a million refugees mainly into neighboring Guinea. In response, since 2018 the Government of Sierra Leone has allocated more than 20 per cent of the national budget to education, and President Julius Maada Bio has announced that Human Capital Development (HCD) is the priority of his administration and a key driver in Sierra Leone meeting the UNs Sustainable Development Goals. While this praise is genuine and well-deserved, the impact of external efforts has also had its limitations and negative effects, including: While massive numbers of homes were destroyed during the war, most donors refused to provide assistance to the shelter sector since it is often viewed as a private good. In particular, two of the governments recent priority initiatives supported by TBI demonstrate how Sierra Leone has used technology, data and innovation to both deliver on a key presidential priority and respond to Covid-19. You can only download this statistic as a Premium user. increased control over diamond mining so that official exports increased from $10 million in 2000 to $127 million in 2004, representing 92% of total exports. Other three dimensions concern shareholders rights in corporate governance (extent of shareholder governance index) and measure: (i) shareholders rights and role in major corporate decisions (extent of shareholder rights index), (ii) governance safeguards protecting shareholders from undue board control and entrenchment (extent of ownership and control index), and (iii) transparency on beneficial ownership stakes, compensation, annual meetings, and audits (extent of corporate transparency index). 1401 Constitution Ave NW At TBI, we are excited about the EIC in Sierra Leone and looking forward to seeing what the data shows about the results of the first year. The extent of shareholder rights index measures the role of shareholders in key corporate decisions. addressed the HIV/AIDS crisis by establishing a National AIDS Secretariat and funded AIDS projects with World Bank assistance; The programme is now in its second year of implementation. We supported the harmonisation of data on travellers in quarantine and contact tracing, ensuring that symptomatic contacts were tested in a timely manner and that all those in quarantine were tested before discharge at the end of the 14-day period. Washington, DC 20230. Cost is recorded as a percentage of the economys income per capita. FOLLOW US The ranking is out of 190 countries. For details on the procedures reflected here, see the summary below. However, by the time Sierra Leone started recording cases in March 2020, the challenges related to quarantine, tracking of passengers and information sharing had begun to present themselves. The reasons given included poor internet connectivity, having limited time to learn to use the application, and not having enough mobile devices to go around. The Legal Rights Index ranges from 0-12, with higher scores indicating that those laws are better designed to expand access to credit. Sierra Leone ranked 143 out of 144 countries in the 2013 Global Competitiveness Index. Blaming slavery or colonialism or debt or oil prices or globalization or war or human nature will not get us very far. Sierra Leone was then, and is today, a religiously plural, multi-ethnic society with 13 principal ethnic groups. The measure captures the median duration that property lawyers, notaries or registry officials indicate is necessary to complete a procedure. Mon-Fri 0800-1200 and 1400-1700. Several donors are better able to deliver infrastructure (school buildings; clinic buildings; road upgrading) than to help us ensure that the infrastructure will be sustainable by supporting activities inside those buildings that will improve the quality of education, the quality of health care delivery, etc. The local content policy instituted in 2016 requires investors to utilize local goods in place of imported goods, promote the employment of citizens, and develop the human capacity of these citizens through training. The building quality control index is based on six other indicesthe quality of building regulations, quality control before construction, quality control during construction, quality control after construction, liability and insurance regimes, and professional certifications indices. Third, to discuss whether the private sector can make a useful contribution in dealing with the difficulties in question. FOREIGN INVESTMENTS. On the economic side, high levels of donor aid in the form of direct budgetary support; humanitarian relief; reconstruction, development and technical assistance have helped to reverse the terrible consequences of the war and have brought benefits and hope to many people. Good governance may not be sufficient but it is essential for economic growth, investment and development. The total number of days required to register a firm. International Trade Administration Mr.Chairman, as a result of our policies, attracted substantial donor aid to help rebuild social and economic infrastructure including schools, clinics, markets, feeder roads and others through our national social fund which I head and through projects being implemented directly by ministries; Strengthen the independence of the judiciary; The measure captures the median duration that incorporation lawyers indicate is necessary to complete a procedure with minimum follow-up with government agencies and no extra payments. This site contains PDF documents. Yet an enormous potential benefit for both sectors would flow from a more dynamic public-private partnership in critical areas of mutual interest. The total number of days required for married women to register a firm. TBIs role is to support governments as they scope out, identify and deploy targeted programmes that will improve the lives of citizens. Casual clothing is acceptable for business meetings. I do not doubt the good will of donor institutions or their staffs. It includes all official fees and fees for legal or professional services if such services are required by law. The Tony Blair Institute for Global Change (TBI) has been supporting governments across Africa to harness the power of technology and data to achieve their priorities. The World Bank even listed Sierra Leone as one of the world's top ten business reformers . The main mission for the Agenda for Change is to promote good governance, economic participation and sustainable human development in a manner that will lift Sierra Leone from poverty. The impact of external efforts in Sierra Leone is complex, dynamic and not completely understood. These children didn't choose to be born in Sierra Leone, a country ravaged by a 10 year Civil War and more recently the Ebola Virus . Before you decide to expand abroad, make sure that you understand international trading regulations. September 2015 Fortunately, UNDP and DfID helped in these areas but many donors are being unrealistic when they ban all aid related to security. Tony Blair Institute, trading as Tony Blair Institute for Global Change, is a company limited by guarantee registered in England and Wales (registered company number: 10505963) whose registered office is One Bartholomew Close, London, EC1A 7BL. The economy has potential in five main areas: agriculture, fisheries, mining, tourism, and small-scale manufacturing.