Sierra Leone 2018

Sierra Leone is a country located in West Africa with an estimated population of 7.9 million people. The economy is largely based on mining, agriculture and fishing, with the main exports being diamonds, iron ore and cocoa beans. In terms of foreign relations, Sierra Leone is a member of the United Nations and other international organizations such as the African Union. According to extrareference, Sierra Leone is a presidential republic with an elected president who serves as head of state while the prime minister serves as head of government. In 2018, Julius Maada Bio was elected to serve another term in office as President of Sierra Leone.

Yearbook 2018

Sierra Leone. According to Countryaah.com, Freetown is the capital city of Sierra Leone, a country located in Western Africa. Elections to both parliament and the presidential post were held in March. The governing party General People’s Congress (APC) lost support, but still received 68 out of 132 directly elected seats. The Sierra Leone People’s Party (SLPP) got 49 seats and three other smaller parties also got a seat in Parliament. However, the APC failed to maintain its grip on the presidential post. Julius Maada Bio (SLPP) defeated APC’s candidate, former Finance and Foreign Minister Samura Kamara, by 51.8% in the second round. Contradictions between supporters of APC and SLPP several times led to violent clashes.

• According to Abbreviationfinder: SLE is an three letter acronym for Sierra Leone.

In October, the government decided to lay down plans for a new airport to be financed with loans from China and initiated by former President Ernest Bai Koroma in March. The huge debt that the costly project would entail was criticized by both the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund (IMF). Instead of a new airport, the existing airport outside Freetown should be refurbished.

The eastern part of the country was occupied by the United Liberation Liberation Movement for Democracy, which used Sierra Leone as a base for attacks on Charles Taylor’s forces in Liberia. In the southeast, the Revolutionary United Front of Sierra Leone (RUF) operated.

The zones affected by the war are the richest in the country. Here are the deposits of gold and diamonds, as well as agricultural production. Guerrilla activity led to a sharp decline in mining. Diamond’s share of export revenues dropped from 54.7% in 1987 to just under 7% in 1990. Per capita income fell from $ 320 in 1980 to 210 in 1991.

Because of the war, more than 1 million people were displaced. Some fled to safer areas of the country, while others fled to neighboring Guinea and Liberia.

Following pressure from Britain, the government launched a unilateral ceasefire on December 1, 1993, promising amnesty to the partisans who dropped the weapons. However, the offer was rejected by the RUF.

Nor did the government’s promises to conduct elections convince the RUF that continued the armed struggle. The Rebels achieved a number of military victories in early 1994. However, they cost 150 civilian lives.

The World Bank expressed its “satisfaction” with the country’s economic policy, after reducing inflation from 120% in 1991 to 15% in 1994.

In early 1995, the war spread to almost the entire country. Government forces recaptured the titanium mine in Sierra Rutile, whose production accounted for half of Freetown’s foreign trade. But despite the fact that the government now spent 75% of the state budget on the military and had increased the number of soldiers to 13,000 men, the government seemed unable to crush the guerrillas.

Following a relentless coup in January 1996, Strasser was replaced by his former ally Brigadier General Julius Maada Bio. In February, presidential elections were held, as predicted in the second round by SLPP Ahmad Tejan Kabbah with 60% of the vote.

During the period 1991-96, the war had cost 10,000 killed and driven 2 million on the run – as internal and external refugees.

The rebel forces led by Major Johnny Paul Koroma overthrew President Ahmad Tejan Kabbah on May 25, 1997. Koroma put itself at the head of a National Council. It was dominated by his own RUF, but also consisted of the crashed presidential secretary as well as the former defense minister and military commander. At the same time, the OAU held a summit in Namibia, from which the organization condemned the coup and initiated negotiations to get the coup makers to give up their positions.

In September 1997, the toppled President Ahmad Tejan Kabbah requested UN support to reinstate his government. To the General Assembly, Kabbah recalled that a month earlier, the Security Council had promised to “take the necessary steps” to force Koroma to return power to elected representatives.

Demography and economic geography. – West African state. The population (4,976,871 residents at the 2004 census; 6,205,382 residents, according to an estimate by UNDESA, United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs, in 2014), grew by 1.9% annually (2010-15) and 40% of it is distributed in urban areas, especially in the capital Freetown (986,000 residents, estimated in 2014) and a few other cities, which do not exceed 300,000 residents. With a life expectancy of 45.6 years (2013) and literacy at 48%, 73% of the residents live in a state of poverty (183% of the Human Development Index, GDP per capita at purchasing power parity, PPA, of $ 2,069), in a general context of corruption. The Ebola epidemic (which started from Guinea in February 2014) has further worsened the situation (7897 infected and 1768 dead, WHO data, December 2014), with heavy effects on the economy (GDP + 5-6%), already exposed to fluctuation of prices on the international diamond, bauxite, iron, titanium market.