World Bank2014-07-172014-07-172009-06https://hdl.handle.net/10986/18888This Investment Climate Policy Note (ICPN) for Sierra Leone evaluates the country's business environment by: (i) analyzing barriers to private sector investment and growth and how they vary among different types of firms; (ii) benchmarking Sierra Leone's investment climate and firm performance to that of other countries; and (iii) providing recommendations to promote and strengthen the private sector. The ICPN is supported by the statistical analysis of a 2009 enterprise survey of 150 formal, manufacturing and service firms with five or more employees based in Western Area/Freetown and Kenema, two of Sierra Leone's major urban centers. The ICPN is organized as follows. Chapter one provides context for Sierra Leone's business environment. Chapter two discusses the performance of Sierra Leone firms, with a focus on labor productivity. Chapter three examines how investment climate constraints cost businesses money and time, discusses main bottlenecks to conducting business as identified by managers of Sierra Leone firms, and reviews obstacles related to electricity supply, tax rates, informality, corruption and access to land. Chapter four analyzes data on how firms access and use finance, and chapter five discusses exports and internationalization in Sierra Leone. Chapter six concludes and provides policy options to improve the investment climate.en-USCC BY 3.0 IGOACCEPTABLE COLLATERALACCESS TO CAPITALACCESS TO CREDITACCESS TO EDUCATIONACCESS TO FINANCEACCOUNTINGADMINISTRATIVE BARRIERSADVISORY SERVICESAPPLICATION PROCEDURESBANK CREDITBANK DEPOSITSBANKING SECTORBANKSBRIBEBRIBESBRIBINGBUSINESS ASSOCIATIONBUSINESS ENTRYBUSINESS ENVIRONMENTBUSINESS ESTABLISHMENTSBUSINESS OPERATIONSBUSINESS PEOPLEBUSINESS REGISTRATIONCAPITAL FINANCECAPITAL FORMATIONCAPITAL STOCKCOLLATERALCOLLATERAL REQUIREMENTSCOMMODITYCOMMODITY PRICESCOMPETITIVE MARKETCOMPETITIVENESSCOMPETITORSCOMPLIANCE COSTSCORPORATIONCORRUPTIONCPICREDIT GUARANTEECREDIT INFORMATIONCREDITORCREDITOR RIGHTSCREDITWORTHINESSCURRENCYCUSTOMSDEVELOPING COUNTRIESDISTRIBUTION NETWORKDIVERSIFICATIONE-MAILECONOMIC ACTIVITIESECONOMIC ACTIVITYECONOMIC CRISISECONOMIC DEVELOPMENTECONOMIC GROWTHECONOMIES OF SCALEEDUCATION LEVELEDUCATION LEVELSELECTRICITYELECTRICITY GENERATIONEMPLOYMENTEMPLOYMENT GROWTHENFORCEMENT OF CONTRACTSENTERPRISE SURVEYENTERPRISE SURVEYSENTREPRENEURSHIPEQUIPMENTEXCHANGE RATEEXCHANGE RATE MOVEMENTSEXPANSIONEXPLOITATIONEXPORT GROWTHEXPORTEREXPORTERSFINANCIAL INFORMATIONFINANCIAL SERVICEFINANCIAL SERVICESFINANCIAL STATEMENTSFIRM PERFORMANCEFIRM SIZEFIRM SIZESFIRMSFISCAL POLICYFISHERIESFISHINGFOREIGN DIRECT INVESTMENTFOREIGN EXCHANGEFOREIGN FIRMSFOREIGN INVESTMENTFORMAL ECONOMYGENERAL POPULATIONGOVERNMENT CONTRACTGOVERNMENT CONTRACTSGOVERNMENT POLICIESGROSS DOMESTIC PRODUCTGUARANTEE SCHEMEHIGH INTEREST RATESHUMAN DEVELOPMENTICTIMPACT ASSESSMENTSINCOME TAXINFLATIONINFLATION RATESINFLATIONARY PRESSURESINFORMAL ECONOMIC ACTIVITYINFORMATION ASYMMETRIESINFORMATION INFRASTRUCTUREINNOVATIONINTEREST RATESINTERMEDIATE INPUTSINTERNAL FUNDSINTERNATIONAL COMPARISONINTERNATIONAL COMPARISONSINTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENTINTERNATIONAL STANDARDSINTERNATIONALIZATIONINVESTINGINVESTMENT CLIMATEJOB CREATIONJUDICIAL SYSTEMLABOR COSTSLABOR FORCELABOR MARKETLABOR MARKETSLABOR PRODUCTIVITYLACK OF COMPETITIONLACK OF INFORMATIONLAND MARKETSLAND REFORMSLEASINGLICENSELICENSESLICENSINGLIMITED LIABILITYLIMITED LIABILITY CORPORATIONLINE OF CREDITLINES OF CREDITLLCLOANLOAN APPLICATIONLOAN APPLICATIONSLOCAL CURRENCYMACROECONOMIC ENVIRONMENTMACROECONOMIC INSTABILITYMACROECONOMIC POLICIESMACROECONOMIC STABILITYMANUFACTURERMANUFACTURERSMANUFACTURINGMANUFACTURING ENTERPRISESMARGINAL TAX RATESMEDIUM ENTERPRISESMINESMOVABLE PROPERTYNATURAL RESOURCENATURAL RESOURCESNEW BUSINESSOILOIL PRICESOUTREACHOVERDRAFTOVERDRAFT FACILITIESPARTIAL CREDITPERFORMANCE INDICATORSPOLITICAL ECONOMYPOLITICAL STABILITYPRIVATE INVESTMENTPRIVATE PARTNERSHIPSPRIVATE SECTORPRIVATE SECTOR CREDITPRIVATE SECTOR DEVELOPMENTPRIVATE SECTOR INVESTMENTPRODUCERSPROPERTY AS COLLATERALPROPRIETORSHIPSPUBLIC FINANCESPURCHASING POWERPURCHASING POWER PARITYREAL EXCHANGE RATERECEIPTSRECESSIONRELIABILITYRESULTRESULTSRETAINED EARNINGSRETURNRULE OF LAWSALE OF GOODSSALES GROWTHSAVINGSSAVINGS ACCOUNTSAVINGS ACCOUNTSSCALE ENTERPRISESSIZE OF FIRMSSMALL BUSINESSESSMALL FIRMSMALL FIRMSSOURCES OF FINANCESTANDARD FORMATSTORAGE FACILITIESSUPPLIERTAXTAX BURDENTAX COLLECTIONTAX EXEMPTIONSTAX LEGISLATIONTAX POLICIESTAX POLICYTAX RATETAX RATESTAX REGIMETAX SYSTEMTAXATIONTELEPHONETELEPHONE CONNECTIONTELEPHONE CONNECTIONSTRADINGTRANSACTIONTRANSACTION COSTSTRANSACTIONS COSTSTRANSMISSIONTRANSPARENCYUNIONURBAN AREASUSERSUSESVALUE CHAINVALUE OF COLLATERALWAGESWORKING CAPITAL10.1596/18888