By: Precious Miracle Kargbo
In a major step toward fostering sustainable economic development, Vice President Dr. Mohamed Juldeh Jalloh on June 17, 2025, officially launched two critical policy documents: The Sierra Leone Country Economic Memorandum (CEM) and the Sierra Leone Country Climate and Development Report (CCDR).
The launch event, held at the Ministry of Finance in Freetown, highlighted the government’s commitment to addressing the dual challenges of economic revitalization and climate change.
Prepared by the World Bank, the CEM and CCDR provide a comprehensive analysis of Sierra Leone’s development path in the face of climate-related risks. These reports offer strategic insights and policy recommendations aimed at enhancing economic resilience and sustainability.
In his keynote address, Vice President Jalloh emphasized the importance of a robust regulatory environment to attract private sector investment. “A strong enabling environment is crucial for leveraging private finance, creating jobs, and ensuring inclusive economic growth,” he said.
The reports identify key priorities for unlocking Sierra Leone’s economic potential, including restoring macroeconomic stability, improving the regulatory framework, and investing in human capital development.
Vice President Jalloh pointed to recent progress in managing inflation and interest rates both of which have fallen to single digits as a sign of positive economic momentum.
“This report is a call to action,” he stated. “The World Bank has provided us with a refreshing stocktaking exercise that we can build upon.”
The launch comes at a critical time for Sierra Leone, as the country seeks to balance growth with climate resilience. Climate change poses significant risks to agricultural productivity, water resources, and livelihoods. By integrating environmental and development priorities, the government aims to create a resilient, adaptive economy.
As part of the initiative, the Vice President called for broad collaboration across sectors. “Together, we can harness our resources and drive the inclusive growth our country needs,” he concluded.
These reports analyze the country’s growth trajectory in the context of climate change threats. I emphasized several key priorities identified by the reports to unlock Sierra Leone’s full economic potential, including: Restoring macroeconomic stability, creating an enabling environment to better leverage the private sector and Building our human capital
He highlighted the critical need for a strong regulatory framework to facilitate private sector financing, which is essential for sustainably creating jobs and driving inclusive economic growth.
The reports serve as a call to action, building on our recent successes in bringing inflation down to single digits, reducing interest rates, and implementing important monetary and fiscal policy reforms. “These achievements signal a promising economic resurgence following the challenges posed by the pandemic and its aftereffects,” Vice President said.
He thanked the World Bank for this valuable and insightful stocktaking exercise. There is much we can build upon as we move forward.
In summary, the CEM and CCDR are more than just policy documents they represent Sierra Leone’s renewed commitment to sustainable development, inclusive growth, and climate resilience in an increasingly uncertain global environment.
