Productivity

Sierra Leone is in great need of improvement to their productivity as a country. Their human capital, such as education, training, and health care, is dismal. With only 3.8% of their GDP going to education, a literacy rate of 35.1%, and a total school life expectancy of 7 years give Sierra Leone an opportunity to improve their human capital, which will lead to an increased productivity (CIA The World Factbook). They could obtain this goal by increasing their government spending towards education by help funding new schools and teachers to help promote greater learning because with poor education comes poor training as well.

Ernest Bai Koroma, the President of Sierra Leone, was quoted commenting on the investment in agriculture, “Sierra Leone, like many other countries in Africa, is suitably positioned to benefit from such investment because of its vast arable land, abundant water resources and the fact that over 70 per cent of its population is engaged in farming or farming-related activities.” (UN News Centre).

Sierra Leone mineral exports, mainly diamonds, remain the key in their foreign trade. Although the unethical treatment of the people forced to mine these diamonds is a seemingly reoccurring topic. People even refer to the diamonds coming out of Sierra Leone as “blood diamonds”. Rich in minerals, Sierra Leone has relied on the mining sector in general, and diamonds in particular, for its economic base.

In the 1970s and early 1980s, the economic growth rate slowed because of a decline in the mining sector and increasing corruption among government officials. By the 1990s economic activity was declining and economic infrastructure had become seriously degraded due to the civil conflicts and lack of leadership in government to do anything about the atrocities happening beyond the walls of the capitol building. Annual production estimates range between $250-$300 million dollars of Sierra Leone’s GDP, which results in their diamond mining becoming the main focus of production. Diamonds, if for any reason were to run out or become harder to find, would pose a great threat to the economy of Sierra Leone and is why they are in need of other alternate cash resources and ways of producing money (U.S. Department of State).
Alongside diamonds, Sierra Leone has the world's largest deposit of rutile, a titanium ore used in paint pigment and welding rod coatings, so if productivity were too increase and investment in factories and mining to help harvest this ore, then Sierra Leone would greatly benefit from it.

To help offset the lack of industrial tools, factories and equipment, the government created “The Wellington Industrial Estate”, covering 46 hectares just east of Freetown. It was developed in the 1960s by the government to encourage investments. Its factories produce a variety of products, including cement, nails, shoes, oxygen, cigarettes, beer and soft drinks, paint, and knitted goods (U.S. Department of State). Through these efforts the government have tried to increase productivity and create a better envoirment to ease Sierra Leone’s tough economic time to hopefully, in turn, help increase their economic well being.

Works Cited
U.S. Department of State- Sierra Leone. Background Note, 18 Feb. 2009. Web. 22
Nov. 2009. .
CIA-The World Factbook. Africa: Sierra Leone. Central Intelligence Agency, 17
Feb. 2009. Web. 30 Nov. 2009. the-world-factbook/geos/sl.html>.
UN News Centre. “At UN, Sierra Leone calls for investment in agriculture to combat food crisis”. UN News Service, 25 Sept. 2008. Web. 30 Nov. 2009. .