Sierra Leone Digital Transformation Project

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Sierra Leone is a small country in West Africa with rich natural resources but multiple development challenges. It has a total population of 7.9 million. The country has rich mineral, agricultural, and “blue” (aquatic) resources. However, it is facing multiple development challenges including poverty; a growing youth population and high youth unemployment; weak institutions; and a North-South ethnic/regional divide. About 43 percent of the population lives under the poverty line (US$1.9 per day) and per capita gross domestic product (GDP), at $400. Three-quarters of the poor live in rural areas, poverty among subsistence farmers remains a major challenge. The economy is vulnerable to several exogeneous shocks, including commodity prices, weather, health, and global inflation. Agriculture, mining, and tourism have remained important drivers of growth, but are constrained by recurrent shocks. The economy has been struggling to diversify the labor market, increase productivity, and create jobs for the growing youth population. Approximately 75 percent of the population are under 35 years of age, and 40 percent of the population is under 15 years old. An undiversified economy remains highly dependent on agriculture and natural resources for revenue. The high youth unemployment rate is associated in part with a low level of skills and some frustration with unmet expectations; this is an important source of fragility. The Government of Sierra Leone (GoSL) continues to work to maintain macroeconomic stability and improve fiscal balances since the Ebola shock, aggravated by the COVID-19 pandemic and the war in Ukraine. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the initial growth projection of 4.2 percent in 2020 was revised downwards to minus 2.8 percent. However, this was revised upwards to minus 2.0 percent at the end of December 2020, reflecting the better performance of the mining sector and the positive impact of the government's COVID-19 response. In addition to that, the government's revenue mobilization strategy and reforms, including those leveraging technology, continue to yield positive returns.Despite being assessed as at risk of debt distress, Sierra Leone's authorities continue to roll out measures to ensure that debt and inflation remains within control. The government has approved the Arrears Clearance Strategy and Principles (2020-2025), paving the way to update the Medium-Term Debt Strategy. Paying down the stock of arrears supports the flow of money in the local economy. Inflation rate have been fluctuated between 10.5 to 13.9 percent. The government managed to moderate Inflationary pressures significantly from 13.9 percent in the end of 2019 to 10.5 percent in the end of 2020. The authorities remain committed to economic management that mitigates the economic and social impact of ongoing shocks. Growth is expected to return to positive rates, at an estimated 3.2 percent for 2021 and averaging 4.5 percent in the medium term. The government will continue to implement sound economic policies and public financial management reforms focused on maintaining a stable economy, responding to shocks and creating the fiscal space needed to provide critical goods and services for the people of Sierra Leone whilst leveraging technology and innovation.Gender disparities in Sierra Leone remain a challenge, as low literacy rates, high rates of early pregnancy and early marriage, and restrictive social norms constrain economic opportunities for women and girls. Women’s economic participation in Sierra Leone has historically suffered due to high rates of dropout from the formal education system. More than a third of girls (39 percent) are married before the age of 18, and by 19, the average girl in Sierra Leone already has two children.1 High rates of school dropout among teenage girls due to early marriage and pregnancy limit their educational attainment and contribute to widening gender gaps in access to information, services, infrastructure, and employment opportunities. Working‐age women who were teenage mothers have an average of one year less of education and earn 25 percent less than women who were not teenage mothers. Most of the work done by women is not remunerative (e.g., household work, including childcare and elderly care),2 which contributes to them accruing less than one-seventh of men’s total income through their lifetimes.3 While data on the supply of digital skills in Sierra Leone is lacking, a 2020 UNICEF study found that two percent of male adolescents aged 15-18 years have ICT skills, compared to one percent of females.4 Restrictive social normal prioritize women’s household work, constrain women’s time and physical mobility, and limit interactions between men and women. As a result, young women are less likely to participate in vocational training, such as digital skills training programs, than young men (4 versus 7 percent).5 Additionally, the government reports that improved Internet access has led to onlineviolence against women. Lack of awareness of the benefits of digital literacy, lack of relevant content, and concerns about online violence led women to be less likely to use the Internet for economic activities. Having said that, some efforts have been recently started to tackle gender disparity by the Government, especially in girls' access to education. The Government of Sierra Leone (GoSL) is committed to transforming its economy based on a more inclusive and human-centric digital growth and development approach. A new high level national digital development policy, strategy and innovation strategy have been launched and developed. The Ministry of Information and Communications (MIC) is in charge of driving the Government’s digital transformation strategic vision and promoting Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) sector policy. The new National Digital Development Policy (NDDP) was approved by the Cabinet in December 2021 setting the GoSL’s vision to transform Sierra Leone into an inclusive digital economy and society. The draft National Digital Development Strategy (NDDS), which builds on the National Digital Transformation Roadmap (NDTR) of 2019, is finalized but currently pending approval by the Cabinet. The NDDP and NDDS will provide a detailed roadmap and policy interventions through which the GoSL can realize its vision of an inclusive digital economy. Overall, the ICT market in Sierra Leone made progress in terms of expanding mobile signal coverage, increasing mobile phone and mobile broadband subscribers. However, Sierra Leone faces challenges in achieving its vision, including high prices of connectivity and devices, significant gaps in access to broadband internet especially in rural areas and for women and marginalized groups, and inadequate capacity and skills to capitalize on digital opportunities and innovation. At present, the GoSL lacks sufficient policies, institutional and coordination capacity, and underlying infrastructure to implement core building blocks for digital government and enable citizen-centric digital services in a secure, reliable, and cost-effective manner. In part icular, the lack of robust interconnection between MDAs and among central government offices and local councils poses a significant challenge to accelerate digital transformation in the government. Also there is an urgent need to strengthen cyber resilience and data protection. Based on the key observations, the proposed Project Development Objective is to expand access to broadband internet, enhance digital skills and improve government capacity to deliver public services digitally. The project is comprised of the following five components.Component 1: Expanding Digital Access, and Increasing Resilience of the Digital EnvironmentThis component aims to improve broadband market efficiencies and competition, expand access to broadband internet, and foster inclusive digital connectivity by addressing existing digital divide in Si