VZCZCXRO6700
RR RUEHMA RUEHPA
DE RUEHFN #0216/01 1621703
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 111703Z JUN 09
FM AMEMBASSY FREETOWN
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 2674
INFO RUEHZK/ECOWAS COLLECTIVE

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 FREETOWN 000216 
 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPARTMENT FOR AF/W (JHUNTER) 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: ECON EAID PREL PGOV SL
SUBJECT: PRESIDENT LAYS OUT SIERRA LEONE'S DEVELOPMENT 
PRIORITIES 
 
¶1. (U) Summary: On May 19, President Koroma presented his new 
poverty reduction strategy, the "Agenda for Change" focusing 
on four priority sectors: Power and Water Upgrades; 
Agricultural Output; Transportation Networks; and Human 
Development (Education and Health). President Koroma noted 
that his plan could only be implemented with significant 
donor assistance in a secure and stable environment. He 
explained that Sierra Leone must act now to dramatically 
increase the economic growth rate; if the rate remained 
unchanged it would still take 14 years just to reach one 
dollar/day/person. Finally, he wanted his donor partners to 
spread the message that Sierra Leone is "open for business," 
and seeking private investment. End Summary. 
 
¶2. (U) President Koroma personally launched Sierra Leone's 
second poverty reduction strategy paper, labeled the "Agenda 
for Change," in a meeting with development partners and 
ministers May 19th. Ministers gave powerpoint briefings on 
their areas of responsibility; sources reported that the 
ministers rehearsed their presentations extensively. 
Priority will be placed on Energy and Water, Agriculture, 
Infrastructure, and Human Development, and the President 
called on donors to: align foreign aid to Sierra Leonean 
priorities; work with Sierra Leone to expand donor base to 
non-traditional countries like Brazil and India; honor 
existing commitments and scale-up where needed; shorten the 
duration between commitment and disbursement without 
compromising fiduciary standards 
 
¶3.  (U) Koroma assured donors that efforts where in place to 
strengthen government and mobilize resources within the 
country, contributing to building momentum for the Agenda. He 
also mentioned restructuring the National Revenue Authority 
(NRA) and implementing a Value Added Tax (VAT). 
 
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Energy and Water 
---------------- 
 
¶4. (U) The Agenda noted that power and water are key to 
development and to securing public and private investment, 
and the Ministry proposed construction of two dams, a new 
power station, and expansion of an existing power station at 
a cost of $600 million. The Ministry intended to improve the 
governance and regulation of both the energy and water 
sectors, formulate an integrated policy approach for energy 
and water and enhance the enabling environment for public and 
private participation. A number of hindrances remain: less 
than 10% of the population has electricity; institutional 
roles are unclear and uncoordinated; there are significant 
capacity constraints; power transmission and distribution 
networks are old and/or damaged; half the population has no 
safe drinking water. 
 
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Agriculture 
----------- 
 
¶5. (U) Agriculture is the backbone of the Sierra Leone 
economy. Currently, agriculture's share of GDP is 45% and 
accounts for 1/4 of export earnings and employs 2/3 of the 
population. The Ministry intends to increase agricultural 
productivity, promote private sector operations, improve 
research and extension service delivery, promote effective 
and efficient resource management, and mainstream 
cross-cutting issues such as gender, youth, farmer health and 
environmental sustainability. Key challenges to achieving 
goals include inadequate and untimely financial support, weak 
rural infrastructure, and slow response to the effects of 
global rising food prices. To address these agricultural 
issues, the Ministry proposes the following: implementation 
of an Irrigated National Rice Development Program, 
improvement of rural livelihoods through integrated 
commercialization of cassava, rice and other crops, and a 
market-oriented forestry and tree crop production system. 
Total cost for these projects is estimated at USD 475.5 
million. 
 
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Transportation Infrastructure 
----------------------------- 
 
¶6. (U) Sierra Leone requires a reliable transportation 
network to move goods and people and facilitate investment 
and economic activity. Currently, rural and feeder roads are 
inadequate and poorly maintained. Inland waterways connecting 
villages and farming areas to market centers are also 
woefully inadequate. The Transportation Ministry is proposing 
construction and rehabilitation of 523km of trunk roads, 
1500km of feeder roads and 250km of roads in major towns, 
 
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upgrading the infrastructure of and access to Lungi 
International Airport, and rehabilitation and construction of 
coastal and inland waterways including dredging. The total 
projected cost is USD 801.45 million. 
 
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Human Development 
----------------- 
 
¶7. (U) The Education Ministry proposes achieving universal 
primary education and completion, increasing access to higher 
education, skills training and literacy, implementing 
programs for early childhood care and pre-school 
opportunities, and providing improved governance, planning 
management and leadership within the Ministry. Key challenges 
include an inadequate number of qualified teachers and the 
poor provision of science and computer laboratories, 
libraries, and Internet facilities. Proposed projects 
included increased access to market-driven 
technical/vocational training and higher education for women 
and unemployed youth (USD 5 million); enhanced teaching of 
science and technology through construction and equipping of 
20 science and computer labs throughout the country (USD 5 
million); provision of technical assistance to tertiary 
education institutions for lecturers to undertake refresher 
courses (USD 2.5 million); and construction of two lecture 
halls with modern equipment in each of the five Teacher 
Training Colleges and in the two Universities (USD 5 
million). 
 
¶8. (U) Youth unemployment is a grave concern; currently, less 
than 20 percent of the youth population is covered by ongoing 
youth employment opportunities.  Sierra Leone intends to 
establish a Youth Commission and expand current programs (USD 
1.5 million); establish sporting complexes in the Provinces 
(USD 10 million); promote youth employment and leadership 
through training and education (USD 4 million); create 
opportunities for young people to participate in national and 
international sporting competitions; and address youth drug 
abuse, violence, crime and HIV/AIDS. 
 
¶9. (U) The Health Ministry proposes to increase the 
availability and accessibility of safe drugs, ensure that 90 
percent of all drugs reach health facilities, ensure health 
care facilities include working equipment, electricity, and 
running water, improve child health by full immunization of 
74 percent of children under a year old; ensure children 
under the age of 5 that present symptoms of fever receive 
appropriate treatment within 24 hours; and improve maternal 
health by increasing the number of women delivering at health 
care facilities and increase the number of cesarean sections. 
Priorities include the implementation of a Reproductive and 
Child Health program as an entry point to strengthen service 
delivery systems (USD 72 million); reduce illness and death 
associated with malaria through increased bednet coverage and 
access to effective treatment (USD 32 million); establish a 
credible health information system to ensure effective 
management of health programs (USD 2 million); and salary and 
incentives to ensure that health care workers are 
appropriately remunerated (USD 27 million). 
 
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Resource Management 
------------------- 
 
¶10. (U) Initial costs for implementation of the Agenda for 
Change is USD 1.9 billion. Despite positive growth prospects 
for the country, additional resources will be required to 
meet the total cost. The USD 850 million shortfall breaks 
down as follows: USD 161 million deficit for electricity; USD 
150 million deficit for transportation; USD 160 million 
deficit for agriculture; and USD 198 million deficit for 
human development. The Agenda included the following 
mechanisms to ameliorate the shortfall: 
 
--Expanding the domestic revenue base to include: (a) 
transfer of off-budget funds to a Consolidated Revenue Fund, 
improving efficiency in both tax and non-tax collection; (b) 
improving efficiency in both tax and non-tax collection; (c) 
targeted investments to boost critical growth sectors; (d) 
implement NRA Modernization Plan; (e) implement the Goods and 
Services Tax (GST); (f) minimize tax incentives and holidays; 
and (g) review mining contracts. 
 
--Targeting nontraditional donors and the private sector for 
aid and investment support by: (a) expanding the 
non-traditional donor base to countries such as Brazil and 
India; (b) maximizing benefits of Private Sector 
Participation; (c) exploring Carbon Trading Potential; (d) 
improving Sierra Leone's Country Policy and Institutional 
 
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Assessment (CIPA); and (e) improving the Doing Business 
ranking. 
 
--Strengthening Public Financial Management (PFM) and aid 
coordination by: (a) implementing an integrated PMF reform 
program; and (b) developing and implementing an aid policy to 
enable government to take the lead in aid management by 
clearly defining roles and procedures and improving 
transparency and reporting. 
 
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COMMENT 
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¶11. (U) The format for the Agenda for Change presentation 
resembled a private sector stockholder's meeting, reflecting 
the President's intent to import the lessons he learned from 
decades in the insurance business into Sierra Leone's 
governmental process. This is a positive change, but may not 
be enough to overcome the reality that GoSL resources to 
implement the Agenda are either finite, or absent altogether. 
Post is encouraged that the GoSL recognition of this obstacle 
is more than theoretical, and implementing legislation (the 
GST is one example), is already beginning to pass through 
Parliament. Better revenue collection is important, but 
Sierra Leone still requires substantial donor funding and 
private investment before it can turn the economic corner. 
End Comment. 
FEDZER