Publication: Political Economy of Extractives Governance in Sierra Leone
Loading...
Date
2013-07
ISSN
Published
2013-07
Author(s)
Editor(s)
Abstract
Sierra Leone is still recovering from a brutal civil war (1991-2002), fuelled in part by a valuable and easily extractable natural resource (diamonds). Sierra Leone now stands on the verge of an unprecedented period of economic growth, driven primarily by revenues from large-scale iron ore mining. Yet it continues to face many governance and developmental challenges. The rapid rise of the extractives governance agenda in Sierra Leone requires an equally swift, yet strategic response from all stakeholders: the Government of Sierra Leone (GoSL), development partners (DPs), civil society organizations (CSOs), communities, and mining companies. This report uses a 'value chain' approach to mining governance which highlights the critical stages through which a resource dependent country is expected to progress as it seeks to transform resource rents into economic growth and sustainable human development. The objective of this study is ultimately to improve the management of the natural resource endowment, enjoyed by Sierra Leone, in a manner that will allow the revenues generated from natural resource extraction to contribute in an optimal manner towards sustainable economic growth. Specifically, the study focuses on mining (iron ore, diamonds, and other minerals) and to a much lesser extent, oil and gas. By using the 'theories of change' approach to political economy analysis, the report looks at the historical challenges around extractive governance, identifies systemic features, and characteristics of 'the problem', extrapolates and analyses the incentives shaping the activities and behaviors of key stakeholders, and then lays out a possible platform for engagement based on clearly identified entry points. This report is organized as follows: chapter one is introduction, chapter two presents a summary of previous analytical work on the political economy of Sierra Leone with special reference to the extractives sector, its governance past, and possible governance futures. Chapter three undertakes an in-depth analysis of the extractives value chain in Sierra Leone and chapter four identifies key stakeholders across this value chain, noting their influence on extractives management policy and implementation, their potential relationships with other stakeholders, and influence over policy outcomes. Chapter five identifies and highlights suitable entry points for policy dialogue on extractives-led governance in Sierra Leone and possible project and technical assistance interventions across the value chain.
Link to Data Set
Citation
“Fanthorpe, Richard; Gabelle, Christopher. 2013. Political Economy of Extractives Governance in Sierra Leone. © World Bank. http://hdl.handle.net/10986/16726 License: CC BY 3.0 IGO.”
Associated URLs
Associated content
Other publications in this report series
Journal
Journal Volume
Journal Issue
Collections
Related items
Showing items related by metadata.
Publication Implementing Right to Information : Lessons from Experience(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2013-01)This implementing right to information lessons from experience has attempted to sketch out the key areas that are important to address during the implementation of Right-to-Information (RTI). In particular, it has highlighted both the imperative of setting up a number of institutions to build capacity and support for RTI in the public sector as well as the challenges in sustaining implementation institutions as political will erodes. It has highlighted the critical importance of the underlying political economy and governance environment, an area often ignored in devising reforms but that is key to whether RTI ultimately works effectively or has any impact. The number of countries with RTI laws-laws that establish citizens `right` to have access to public information or operationalize such a right found in the constitution has exploded. Most of the new adopters are countries in Eastern Europe, Asia, Latin America, and most recently, Africa and the Middle East-countries. The international momentum translated into law when domestic dynamics were favorable, when political elites perceived that it is to their advantage to support the law in order to win political points with domestic constituencies and establish their democratic credentials internationally. In several countries, the transition to democracy also provided an opportunity when pro-reform coalitions of ruling and opposition parties, civil society groups, and media obviated sources of opposition or resistance to the passage of an RTI law.Publication Community Driven Development and Accountable Local Governance : Some Lessons from the Philippines(Washington, DC, 2009-10-15)This study evaluates the connections between community-driven development (CDD) and decentralized local governance, and the need to identify strategies for operational integration. It aims to deepen the understanding of how the institutional environment for local governance interacts with CDD project operations. It gives special emphasis on the issue of accountability, analyzing how CDD operations perform in terms of strengthening the capacity of citizens and civil society to hold local authorities and public service providers accountable, and the capacity of the local government to be held accountable. The study utilizes a two-pronged approach. First, it assesses the institutional environment for accountability in local governance. Second, it examines the operations of two major World Bank-assisted CDD projects in two municipal case study sites. Given that CDD projects both shape and are shaped by local governance contexts in which they are embedded, the study investigates how CDD operations in the Philippines are affected by and are helping reform local governance conditions. It is from the analysis of this interface between CDD operations and local governance conditions that the study aims to generate policy and operational recommendations to enhance integration between CDD and local governance approaches. The analysis of the institutional environment for accountability in local governance often found an enabling policy and legal framework in principle, but severely limiting constraints in practice.Publication State-Building(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2010)This paper aims to provide a very distilled summary of the concepts shaping the discourse around state-building in fragile, conflict-affected situations, and to explore some of the operational implications for international development practitioners working in these settings, drawing on experience from two post-conflict countries. The paper arises out of a collaboration between Bureau for Crisis Prevention and Recovery (UNDP) and the World Bank’s Fragile and Conflict-Affected Countries Group to strengthen their analytical work and guidance to country offices in the area of state building, and to extend interagency cooperation at headquarters and field level. This paper, and the operational guidance it proposes, is a product of the missions to Sierra Leone and Liberia, and its principal audience is country office staff in fragile and conflict-affected settings. The material in this paper is organised around four themes:(i) Current concepts and theory on state-building; (ii) Our practical experience with applying a state-building lens to specific aspects of programming in Sierra Leone and Liberia; (iii) Some operational considerations on approaching statebuilding in fragile, conflict-affected settings; and (iv) Proposals for what an overworked country office can do to support state-building. This paper sits alongside a detailed report on, Donor Support for Capacity Development in Post-Conflict States: Reflections from Two Case Studies in West Africa, which was also developed as part of the UNDP-World Bank collaboration and field missions.Publication Performance Accountability and Combating Corruption(Washington, DC: World Bank, 2007)his volume provides advice on how to institutionalize performance-based accountability, especially in countries that lack good accountability systems. The volume describes how institutions of accountability may be strengthened to combat corruption. The volume is organized into two parts. The first part deals with public management reforms to ensure the integrity and improve the efficiency of government operations. It outlines an agenda for public management reforms and discusses the roles of e-government and network solutions in performance improvements. The second part of the volume provides advice on strengthening the role of representative institutions, such as organs and committees of parliament, in providing oversight of government programs. It also provides guidance on how auditing and related institutions can be used to detect fraud and corruption. The book highlights the causes of corruption and the use of both internal and external accountability institutions and mechanisms to fight it. It provides advice on how to tailor anticorruption programs to individual country circumstances and how to sequence reform efforts to ensure sustainability. This volume presents the latest thinking of leading development scholars on operationalizing such a governance framework. The focus of this volume is creating performance-based accountability and oversight when there is no bottom line. Each chapter addresses an important dimension of such a framework. The four chapters in part I are concerned with integrity and efficiency in public management. The nine chapters of part II are concerned with institutions and mechanisms to hold government to account.Publication Darfur - Dimensions of Challenge for Development : Background Volume(Washington, DC, 2007-06-29)This background volume is not about the recent conflict, nor the humanitarian situation in Darfur today. Rather, it adopts a longer term perspective in an attempt to understand the range of underlying structural obstacles to growth and prosperity in the region. The World Bank, in collaboration with a range of stakeholders, has investigated the nature and extent of the underlying structural obstacles to the region's development. This background volume presents the results of the work of several teams, drawing on primary and secondary sources and field work undertaken in the latter half of 2006. The aim is to help re-establish a knowledge base across multiple dimensions, to inform future development planning oriented toward broad-based growth and attainment of the millennium development goals. The report provides a diagnosis of existing constraints: the basic thesis is that redressing marginalization is central to effectively overcome the challenges to peace and prosperity in the region, and thus in the Sudan overall. The immense challenges facing Darfur reflect not only the immediate conflict, but a series of major structural factors that can be traced back over decades. Of foremast importance is the failure of national policies and development projects to promote broad-based development and good governance. Geographic and demographic factors, in particular increasing desertification, periodic droughts and rapid population growth - have exemplified the, challenges, but the underlying failure of institutions to function in ways that are accountable to the people, and conducive to pro-poor development, plays a critical explanatory role.
Users also downloaded
Showing related downloaded files
Publication World Development Indicators 2014(Washington, DC, 2014-05-09)World Development Indicators 2014 provides a compilation of relevant, high-quality, and internationally comparable statistics about global development and the fight against poverty. It is intended to help users of all kinds—policymakers, students, analysts, professors, program managers, and citizens—find and use data related to all aspects of development, including those that help monitor and understand progress toward the two goals. Six themes are used to organize indicators—world view, people, environment, economy, states and markets, and global links. As in past editions, World view reviews global progress toward the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) and provides key indicators related to poverty. A complementary online data analysis tool is available this year to allow readers to further investigate global, regional, and country progress on the MDGs: http://data.worldbank.org/mdgs. Each of the remaining sections includes an introduction; six stories highlighting specific global, regional or country trends; and a table of the most relevant and popular indicators for that theme, together with a discussion of indicator compilation methodology.Publication Business Ready 2024(Washington, DC: World Bank, 2024-10-03)Business Ready (B-READY) is a new World Bank Group corporate flagship report that evaluates the business and investment climate worldwide. It replaces and improves upon the Doing Business project. B-READY provides a comprehensive data set and description of the factors that strengthen the private sector, not only by advancing the interests of individual firms but also by elevating the interests of workers, consumers, potential new enterprises, and the natural environment. This 2024 report introduces a new analytical framework that benchmarks economies based on three pillars: Regulatory Framework, Public Services, and Operational Efficiency. The analysis centers on 10 topics essential for private sector development that correspond to various stages of the life cycle of a firm. The report also offers insights into three cross-cutting themes that are relevant for modern economies: digital adoption, environmental sustainability, and gender. B-READY draws on a robust data collection process that includes specially tailored expert questionnaires and firm-level surveys. The 2024 report, which covers 50 economies, serves as the first in a series that will expand in geographical coverage and refine its methodology over time, supporting reform advocacy, policy guidance, and further analysis and research.Publication Argentina Country Climate and Development Report(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2022-11)The Argentina Country Climate and Development Report (CCDR) explores opportunities and identifies trade-offs for aligning Argentina’s growth and poverty reduction policies with its commitments on, and its ability to withstand, climate change. It assesses how the country can: reduce its vulnerability to climate shocks through targeted public and private investments and adequation of social protection. The report also shows how Argentina can seize the benefits of a global decarbonization path to sustain a more robust economic growth through further development of Argentina’s potential for renewable energy, energy efficiency actions, the lithium value chain, as well as climate-smart agriculture (and land use) options. Given Argentina’s context, this CCDR focuses on win-win policies and investments, which have large co-benefits or can contribute to raising the country’s growth while helping to adapt the economy, also considering how human capital actions can accompany a just transition.Publication Classroom Assessment to Support Foundational Literacy(Washington, DC: World Bank, 2025-03-21)This document focuses primarily on how classroom assessment activities can measure students’ literacy skills as they progress along a learning trajectory towards reading fluently and with comprehension by the end of primary school grades. The document addresses considerations regarding the design and implementation of early grade reading classroom assessment, provides examples of assessment activities from a variety of countries and contexts, and discusses the importance of incorporating classroom assessment practices into teacher training and professional development opportunities for teachers. The structure of the document is as follows. The first section presents definitions and addresses basic questions on classroom assessment. Section 2 covers the intersection between assessment and early grade reading by discussing how learning assessment can measure early grade reading skills following the reading learning trajectory. Section 3 compares some of the most common early grade literacy assessment tools with respect to the early grade reading skills and developmental phases. Section 4 of the document addresses teacher training considerations in developing, scoring, and using early grade reading assessment. Additional issues in assessing reading skills in the classroom and using assessment results to improve teaching and learning are reviewed in section 5. Throughout the document, country cases are presented to demonstrate how assessment activities can be implemented in the classroom in different contexts.Publication Global Economic Prospects, June 2024(Washington, DC: World Bank, 2024-06-11)After several years of negative shocks, global growth is expected to hold steady in 2024 and then edge up in the next couple of years, in part aided by cautious monetary policy easing as inflation gradually declines. However, economic prospects are envisaged to remain tepid, especially in the most vulnerable countries. Risks to the outlook, while more balanced, are still tilted to the downside, including the possibility of escalating geopolitical tensions, further trade fragmentation, and higher-for-longer interest rates. Natural disasters related to climate change could also hinder activity. Subdued growth prospects across many emerging market and developing economies and continued risks underscore the need for decisive policy action at the global and national levels. Global Economic Prospects is a World Bank Group Flagship Report that examines global economic developments and prospects, with a special focus on emerging market and developing economies, on a semiannual basis (in January and June). Each edition includes analytical pieces on topical policy challenges faced by these economies.