An underdeveloped country is a country characterized by chronic widespread poverty and less

economic development than other nations. Emerging markets, developing countries, and newly
industrialized countries are terms that are often used interchangeably for an underdeveloped country.
These countries have very low per capita income and many residents live in very poor conditions,
including lacking access to education and health care. Additionally, underdeveloped countries have
obsolete methods of production and social organization. These nations often experience high birth
rates and high population growth, further contributing to their widespread poverty.

Sierra Leone, officially the Republic of Sierra Leone ranked 6th in the underdeveloped
countries in the world with human development index of 0.419. It is a country in West
Africa bordered by Guinea, Liberia, and the Atlantic Ocean. In 2019, the estimated
population of Sierra Leone is 7.81 million, which ranks 103rd in the world.
 History
The country owes its name to the 15th-century Portuguese explorer Pedro de Sintra,
the first European to sight and map Freetown harbor. The original Portuguese name,
Serra Lyoa (“Lion Mountains”), referred to the range of hills that surrounds the harbor.
The capital, Freetown, commands one of the world’s largest natural harbors.
Sierra Leone became independent from the United Kingdom in 1961, but a civil war
in the 1990s killed or displaced about a third of the population. Ernest Bai Koroma of the
All People’s Congress, elected president in 2007 in the first peaceful transition of power,
was reelected in 2012. Former junta leader Julius Maada Bio of the Sierra Leone People’s
Party won the presidency in 2018. Gem-quality diamonds account for high rates of
economic growth and nearly half of exports, but Sierra Leone remains extremely poor,
with many depending on subsistence agriculture. Political instability has hindered
development of substantial mineral, agricultural, and fishery resources. An Ebola
outbreak hit Sierra Leone in 2014, killing more than 700, forcing the country to declare a
state of emergency, forcing people to stay indoors for three days. The World Health
Organization declared that the emergency had cleared by 2016.
 Industrial Development /Industrial situation/success
Industrialization is restricted largely to import substitution. Manufacturing is
concentrated in Freetown, and production is mainly of consumer goods, such as
cigarettes, sugar, alcoholic beverages, soap, footwear, textiles, mineral fuels, and
lubricants. Although factories are small and generally employ fewer than 1,000 workers
each, their role in economic diversification is important. Farther inland, industries are
focused on the processing of agricultural and forest produce, such as rice, timber, and
palm oil. Traditional industries, such as fish curing and leatherwork, continue.
One of the problems confronting industrialization in Sierra Leone is the absence of
enough skilled labour to supervise the complex industrial machines that are used in the
manufacturing sector. There are few well trained artisans, engineers and the like to
operate the sophisticated industrial machines.
 GNP and GDP
 o GDP (IMF)- $4.00 billion
o GDP (UN)- $3.67 billion
o GDP Per Capita- $511.7
 Source of income
The economy in Sierra Leone has always been heavily reliant on mineral mining, and
it has kept the economy from being able to flourish under the attitude that gold and
diamonds are enough of a backbone for the economy of an entire nation. Mining employs,
a large segment of the population and provides a significant contribution to the national
economy. Diamonds are mined by a few private companies and by vast numbers of
private prospectors.
Consequently, the country is heavily reliant upon foreign aid. Agriculture is also an
important part of the economy, accounting for 58% of the country's GDP, and employing
80% of the people living there. Rice is Sierra Leone's most common export.
Shifting agriculture, a system of cultivation that employs plot rotation in an effort to
preserve soil fertility, is the technique largely practiced in Sierra Leone. More than three-
fifths of the population engage in agricultural production, primarily for the domestic market
but some also for export. Rice, the main food crop, is widely cultivated on swampland and
upland farms.
 Current situation
Sierra Leone is one of the poorest countries in the world that is facing many
challenges. It has one of the highest youth unemployment rates in West Africa (60%),
much of its drinking water is collected from polluted sources, one of the worst literacy
rates in Africa and health problems that include HIV/AIDS, malaria, and yellow fever.
About 81% of its population lives in poverty. Leone is a rapidly growing country with an
estimated population of 7.557 million, up from 5.5 million in 2008, within 27,699 square
miles (71,740 square kilometers) of area, ranking Sierra Leone 103rd in terms of
population, and 120th in terms of area. Using these figured, the population density of
Sierra Leone is 273 people per square mile (105 people per square kilometer), which
ranks 87th in the world for population density.
35% of people living in Sierra Leone live in urban areas, and as such there aren't many
large cities in the country. Villages of about 35 buildings and 200 inhabitants dominate
the rural landscape. Modernization is slowly altering the traditional pattern of rural
settlement; the old circular village form, with a tight cluster of houses, is rapidly yielding
to the linear village along a road or the regular gridiron pattern with adequate spacing
between houses. Although disrupted by the country’s civil war, economic activity in these
villages centers largely around rice farming. The extended family provides farm labor for
both rice farming and cash crop production. Fishing is becoming increasingly important.
The raising and herding of cattle is largely confined to the north. The small shopkeeper is
typical of the villages, as are the tailor and carpenter. Traditional crafts, such as
metalworking, cloth dyeing and weaving, and woodworking, are rapidly disappearing with
the increased importation of cheap manufactured goods.
Continued economic growth will depend on rising commodities prices and increased
efforts to diversify the sources of growth. Non-mining activities will remain constrained by
inadequate infrastructure, such as power and roads, even though power sector projects
may provide some additional electricity capacity in the near term. Pervasive corruption
and undeveloped human capital will continue to deter foreign investors. Sustained
international donor support in the near future will partially offset these fiscal constraints
 Identify who/what motivates that countries for pursuance or inspire their development
and explain why.
Sierra Leone is a member of the African, Caribbean and Pacific Group of States, African
Union, Economic Community of West African States, Non-Aligned Movement,
Organisation of Islamic Cooperation, United Nations and World Trade Organization.
Sierra Leone is a member of the Economic Community of West African States
(ECOWAS). With Liberia and Guinea, it formed the Mano River Union (MRU) customs
union, primarily designed to implement development projects and promote regional
economic integration.
Sierra Leone has the lowest per capita income in the Commonwealth, but its economy
has grown at 5.2% a year over 2007–11 the commonwealth
According to U.S. foreign assistance statistics, Sierra Leone will receive $14.4 million in
foreign aid from the U.S. in 2019. The majority of the aid will focus primarily on providing
medical care for those affected by malaria. Even though malaria continues to be a major
issue in Sierra Leone, the overall mortality rate attributed to malaria cases has fallen
dramatically in recent years. Sierra Leone has pledged to reduce malaria-based infections
by 40 percent by 2020.
If this goal were achieved, Sierra Leoneans would see increased life expectancy, a lower
infant mortality rate and fewer cases of pregnancy complications in women. Increasing
resistance to epidemics like Ebola or infectious diseases like malaria is a key way in which
the U.S. benefits from foreign aid to Sierra Leone. The risk of regional epidemics
becoming global ones is of great importance to ensuring global security and health.
Bilateral relations between the U.S. and Sierra Leone remain relatively strong. According
to the State Department, “U.S. exports to Sierra Leone include transportation equipment,
agricultural products, machinery and chemicals, while its imports from Sierra Leone
include minerals, metals, machinery and agricultural products.” Having a strong economic
partner in Africa increases the U.S.’ competitiveness with countries such as China, who
has been investing heavily in Africa in recent years. Having a strong partner in trade is
another way that the U.S. benefits from foreign aid to Sierra Leone.
With the Ebola crisis in Sierra Leone contained and the country experiencing economic
growth, the future looks quite bright for the small West African country. To see continued
progress in strengthening its ties with Sierra Leone, the U.S. must continue to pledge its
support in the form of foreign aid.