🇸🇱 Sierra Leone

Sierra Leone is a West African country of 8.6 million with a GDP of about $4.3 billion, still recovering from a devastating civil war (1991-2002) that killed 50,000 and was fueled by "blood diamonds." The country was also ground zero for the 2014-16 Ebola outbreak, which killed nearly 4,000 Sierra Leoneans and collapsed the healthcare system. Despite this, Freetown — founded in 1792 as a settlement for freed slaves — has a resilient spirit. Sierra Leone has some of the world's richest diamond, rutile (titanium ore), and bauxite deposits. The country's beaches, particularly those on the Freetown Peninsula, are among the most beautiful and least developed in West Africa.

Mining (diamonds, iron ore, rutile, bauxite) accounts for about 60% of exports. Agriculture (rice, cocoa, coffee) employs about 60% of the population. China is the largest trade partner and investor in the mining sector. The country is heavily aid-dependent. GDP growth has been around 3-4%, but per capita income remains among the lowest in the world at about $500. The leone has been weak, and inflation runs around 25%.

Sierra Leone's Tacugama Chimpanzee Sanctuary is one of the most important chimp conservation sites in West Africa. The country's Bunce Island was a major British slave trading fort — many enslaved people were sent to rice plantations in South Carolina, and the Gullah Geechee culture in the US traces directly back to Sierra Leone. The 709-carat "Star of Sierra Leone" is one of the largest diamonds ever found.

Sierra Leone has been dealt a terrible hand — war, Ebola, poverty — but the mineral wealth and young population provide a foundation. Governance and infrastructure investment are the prerequisites for any meaningful progress.