Integrated SDG Insights
Sierra Leone
UNDP’s Integrated SDG Insights explore how to achieve the SDGs by 2030. So that no one is left behind.
How To Read This Report
‘SDG Insights’ playbooks transcend development “as usual,” and leverages data innovation, AI and systems analysis to chart credible pathways that help countries meet the 2030 Agenda.
SDG Moment — This section provides an overview of a country's economic growth trajectory, with new insights on sustainability and inclusiveness of growth pathways.
SDG Trends & Priorities — This section builds from the foundation of national SDG progress and uses machine learning to analyse national development ambition with an SDG lens.
SDG Interlinkages — Combined, these insights are mapped against SDG interlinkages to define policy choices the accelerate SDG progress, tailored to national context.
Finance & Stimulus — These policy choices are made against fiscal constraints and opportunities for stimulus mapped in this section to ensure choices translate to development impact and leave no one behind.
1. SDG Moment
While economic growth is a key element in achieving the SDGs, many countries are intent on moving beyond growth as a yardstick for progress. In the short run, growth enables the SDGs; but in the long run, the SDGs aim to transform the pattern of growth itself.
GDP Growth Pathways
People
Poverty: Percentage of the population under each threshold (PPP$ a day).
Data not available.
Planet
Carbon Intensity: CO2 emissions intensity of GDP (tCO2 per PPP $1,000).
Sierra Leone’s economy shows moderate growth in 2023, but is expected to transition into acceleration mode by 2024-2025. This pace of growth is characterized by being 46% higher, on average, than that of the world, and projected to surpass the country’s growth trajectory forecast before the pandemic. Accordingly, Sierra Leone is committed to achieving the SDGs by transforming the country from a fragile state into a stable and prosperous democracy.
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This pace of economic growth is expected to exert a positive effect on reducing poverty at $2.15 and $3.65 a day, although challenges remain given the long periods of internal conflict, military interventions, disease outbreaks and natural disasters. The economic expansion, on the other hand, would be increasingly dependent on carbon emissions, as the country’s carbon emissions intensity of GDP is expected to increase at an annual rate of 8.6% due to fossil fuel usage.
2. SDG Trends & Priorities
Trends
Understanding how
Sierra Leone
performs against the SDG targets provides a baseline landscape against which to build integrated SDG pathways. SDG progress tracking follows UN Stats standards and methodology, and is aligned with country profiles.
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Priorities
Sierra Leone
’s national priorities are analysed using machine learning to reveal the most prominent SDGs referenced in national policy documents. This analysis uses a custom-built model for SDG classification. It considers 100k+ terms, including phrases and expressions.
3. SDG Interlinkages
Maps synergies and trade-offs of national priorities to the most relevant SDG targets to chart policy pathways with most potential to accelerate progress.
8.5: Full employment and decent work with equal pay
Youth under 35 years of age account for 75 percent of the population of Sierra Leone but about 70 percent of the youth are structurally underemployed. Sierra Leone’s burgeoning youth population further compounds the jobs challenge while younger youth cohorts offer some opportunities. At current rates of population growth (2.2 percent), the economy will need to create 70,000 new jobs per year to maintain current employment rates and keep up with population growth.
The economy struggles to create jobs because it is undiversified and trapped in subsistence agriculture and subsistence household enterprises. The undiversified economy remains dependent on natural resources for revenue and on subsistence farming and petty trading for most employment. Informality with low productivity dominates both the agriculture and non-agriculture labour markets. The country not only has among the lowest productivity levels, but with few manufacturing and value-addition activities, poverty reduction requires increased agricultural productivity and the creation of good jobs outside agriculture for the low-skilled labour force.
By investing in SDG 8 (Decent work and economic growth), Sierra Leone can improve on current employment challenges and move the needle on key priorities around the eradication of poverty, zero hunger, improved health care and education. Progress on Target 8.5 will benefit from advancements in closing key infrastructure gaps, specifically in electricity, sustainable and safe road connectivity and ICT and also in promoting access to clean energy. These actions will progressively help to eradicate poverty in Sierra Leone.
11.2: Affordable and sustainable transport systems
Sierra Leone’s power sector faces four key challenges: low access and security of supply (16 percent; 100 MW); costly energy mix (US$0.18 per kWh), poor operational performance and financial viability.
Reliable and affordable broadband connectivity and associated enabling environment in digital infrastructure are the key challenges and are hindering Sierra Leone to take advantage of full-fledged opportunities of digital economy (3G coverage is low (60 percent; 74.8 percent in Sub-Saharan Africa), and 20 percent of the population do not have access to mobile networks). Mobile broadband subscriptions are growing but still low (21.5 percent).
Two thirds of the rural population do not have access to good roads, and deficient transport services are major constraints to farm and firm productivity. Poor urban mobility is a significant disincentive to private investment. Rural and urban access to markets (as well as to schools and clinics are severely constrained by the barriers to mobility.
Investing in improved electricity supply and access (especially from renewable sources), enhanced digital connectivity, and better access at lower cost to digital solutions by businesses and service delivery providers and improved road connectivity (SDG 11.2) could provide non-farm employment opportunities, which can lead to income diversification and higher productivity. Given that a large share of Sierra Leone’s population depends on farming and that most of the poor are involved in it, these benefits hold promise for reducing poverty and achieving other SDGs.
16.6: Develop effective, accountable and transparent institutions
In Sierra Leone, 18 percent of the population are satisfied with the public service received. By focusing on SDG 16 (Peace, justice and strong institutions) and, in particular Target 16.6, measures can be a booster shot needed to reduce the cost of doing business, increase investor confidence, improve accountability for service delivery to citizens and address coordination failures across ministries, departments and agencies (MDAs), and vertically with local administrative authorities that negatively affect private sector competitiveness and effectiveness of spending on social services.
Investing in SDG 16 will also inject the necessary momentum toward the ongoing governance and economic reforms. This means that Sierra Leone could set a higher target with for example the percent of the population satisfied with public services received, public participation and political stability. When this happens, it will have a positive multiplier effect on other SDGs, and address Sierra Leone’s development priorities for reducing poverty, promoting inclusive and sustainable economic growth.
15.1: By 2020, ensure the conservation, restoration and sustainableuse of terrestrial and inland freshwater ecosystems and their services.
By prioritizing Target 15.1 in its 2021-2025 National Development Plan, Ecuadorreaffirmed the significance of protecting and preserving terrestrial ecosystems andtheir biodiversity. This includes recognizing that the investment projects intendedto fulfil Target 15.1 will not only contribute to achieving the SDGs 13, 14 and 15, butwill also help restore ecosystems that underpin the availability and comprehensivemanagement of water resources (SDG 6) and promote their sustainable use (Target12.2). Additionally, it will also foster the generation of new energy from renewablesources (Target 7.2).
To this end, Ecuador seeks to strengthen the management of the National Systemof Protected Areas through its 2022-2032 Strategic Plan and the implementationof the National Forest Restoration Plan 2019-2030. These instruments serve as thetechnical, legal and financial foundation for executing local forest restorationprocesses with a landscape vision, with an overall goal of covering 30,000hectares through its projects. Considering that the proportion of national territoryunder conservation or environmental management, as of 2022, stands at 22.1%, itis necessary to mobilize additional financial resources from various sources andestablish robust governance (Target 17.3) to intensify the care of protected areas.This ensures the conservation of natural and cultural resources, genetic flows, theprovision of environmental services for the benefit of the population and thealignment of policies on the ground.
Futures Scenarios
SDG Push is a futures scenario based on 48 integrated accelerators in the areas of Governance, Social Protection, Green Economy and Digital Disruption. It uses national data to explore the impact on human development by 2030 and 2050 across key SDG indicators. It does this by using ‘International Futures,’ a systems model designed to explore interactions across development systems.
Poverty <$1.90 Per Day (Number of People)
Malnourished Children Under 5 (Number Of Children)
Malnourished Children Under 5 (Number Of Children)
4. Finance and Stimulus
Many countries are facing reduced fiscal space, high debt levels, rising interest rates and downgrades on credit ratings. Fiscal and financial constraints tend to slow or even reverse SDG progress.
Sierra Leone's gross government debt is expected at 92.2% of GDP in 2023, which is close to double the low-income developing countries (LIDC) average of 48.3%. The country is expected to collect 18.9% of GDP in revenue this year, thus 4 percentage points (pp) more than the LIDC average of 14.9%. Sierra Leone’s public external debt servicing this year is expected to reach 10.7% of revenue, which is 3.4 pp below the LIDC average of 14.1%. Due to tight fiscal space and Sierra Leone’s reliance on reserves to service debt and import fuel and food, the latest World Bank and IMF DSA from July 2022 rated the country as ‘in high risk of debt distress’.
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Sierra Leone is using an Integrated National Financing Framework to address key fiscal and financial constraints and build a more sustainable financial architecture at the national level. Priority areas of action have been identified in the areas of domestic revenue mobilization and tax administration including boosting audit capacity for large taxpayers, revising levies and departmental charges, and publishing tax expenditure reports; private investment promotion, including promoting pension investments in infrastructure, and long-term lending to businesses; and remittances, reducing transfer costs for remittance inflows.
SDG Stimulus
The UN Secretary General’s SDG Stimulus Plan lays out a blueprint for action within the existing financial architecture. It includes:
- Providing liquidity to support recovery in the near term
- Enhance debt relief for vulnerable countries.
- Expanding development financing by MDBs
- Align financial flows with the SDGs and Paris Agreement, according to country-level priorities and needs, for example through the rollout of the UN Integrated National Financing Framework (INFFs).
Given the projected fiscal and financial constraints faced by
Sierra Leone
possible funding options for the investments derived from the identified interlinkages are as follows:
- Tax and revenue reform
- Debt for SDGs
- Climate finance
- Blended and public-private finance
- SDG-aligned business environment and investment
- Accessing financial markets and insurance
- Remittances, philanthropy and faith-based financing
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Methodology & Data Sources
Click here to view the Methodological Note for the Integrated SDG Insights.
This report is the result of a global exercise carried out using artificial intelligence to identify SDG priorities based on 10 national government documents, together with SDG progress and SDG interlinkage analysis. The implementation and monitoring of the 2030 Agenda in Argentina should be consulted in the Country Reports and National Voluntary Reports.
SDG Moment
Methodology
Assesses challenges and opportunities in national growth trajectories with insights on environmental sustainability and inclusiveness.
Data Sources
Future trajectories to 2025 are based on IMF-WEO GDP projections, distributions of per capita income or consumption from the World Bank, and CO2 emissions from the Global Carbon Budget 2022 and EDGAR (JRC and IEA).
Trends & Priorities
Methodology
SDG trends tracks progress from 2015 to date for the 231 indicators. National priorities are analysed using machine learning to reveal the most prominent SDGs referenced in national policy documents.
Data Sources
SDG trends tracks progress from 2015 to date for the 231 indicators. National priorities are analysed using machine learning to reveal the most prominent SDGs referenced in national policy documents.
Interlinkages
Methodology
SDG trends tracks progress from 2015 to date for the 231 indicators. National priorities are analysed using machine learning to reveal the most prominent SDGs referenced in national policy documents.
Data Sources
The exercise globally considered a total of 454 documents published from 2015 to August 2022. (Miola et al., 2019 updated in 2021-2022)
Finance & Stimulus
Methodology
Provides insight into indicators of fiscal and financial stress with options (INFF) for stimulus and other means to accelerate progress.
Data Sources
Most recent resource data from UNU-WIDER GRD (between 2018 and 2021), debt and revenue from IMF WEO (between 2020 and forecasts for 2023), external debt from IDS (2023), yields from Haver Analytics (8 June 2023), credit ratings from S&P, Moodys and FITCH (2023), and DSA ratings from World Bank/IMF (31 May 2023).