Sierra Leone

Since 2006 KfW Development Bank has been successfully promoting projects that help to contain HIV infections. The rate of infection has remained relatively constant for many years at less than 1.4%, which is a good figure by regional standards. At the same time, efforts are underway to strengthen the position of women in society and to promote self-determined family planning. Since the Ebola epidemic in West Africa in 2014-2015, KfW has been supporting capacity building in the area of epidemic control in order to better protect the population against the outbreak of future epidemics or to enable them to identify and respond quickly to outbreaks of disease. In addition to funding an integrated early warning system for epidemiologically important diseases, the project aims to strengthen the range of reproductive healthcare services. In these areas, KfW works closely with the national Ministry of Health, the National HIV/AIDS Secretariat and non-governmental organisations. These activities are part of the government’s strategy to strengthen the healthcare system nationwide in cooperation with the donor community and to make it accessible to all the country’s inhabitants.

Although the country has been experiencing an economic and political upswing for a long time since the brutal civil war ended (2002), it is still in a phase of consolidation. Many problems have yet to be resolved. More than 60% of the population still lives below the national poverty line of USD 1.25 per day. Agriculture is the largest economic sector in Sierra Leone and accounts for about half of GDP, but the potential remains largely untapped. Currently an estimated 70% of the working age population is unemployed, underemployed or – especially in subsistence agriculture – unproductively employed. Poor education and low job availability lead to a lack of opportunities, especially among the young population. This in turn entails social and economic risks and may even jeopardise the political stability in the country, which was achieved with considerable effort. Under the project financed by KfW, economic infrastructure will be built along selected value chains, creating as many short-term jobs as possible. Unemployed young people in particular will be involved in these construction measures, which will enable them to generate short-term income and improve their material living situation. In the long term, the development of economic infrastructure will contribute to promoting productive potential and sustainable growth in the rural programme regions.

Project Information – Promoting employment  (PDF, 215 KB, non-accessible)