By: Bailor Amid Saheed kamara
A Young Nation on the Rise: Why Youth Hold the Key to Sierra Leone’s Future Prosperity?
Sierra Leone stands at a transformative crossroads. With over 70% of its population under the age of 35 and a median age of just 19 (Stats SL, 2024), it is one of the youngest nations in the world. This youthful profile is not a burden it is a powerful engine for future economic growth.
But the question is urgent: Will Sierra Leone invest wisely to turn its youth into its greatest national asset? Or will this potential become a missed opportunity in the face of poverty, unemployment, and disillusionment?
In a world driven by digital and green revolutions, strategic youth empowerment through education, jobs, inclusion, and civic participation offers the clearest path to national transformation and inclusive prosperity.
Sierra Leone’s Demographic Dividend: A Window of Opportunity
Globally, aging populations are slowing down economic growth. Sierra Leone, by contrast, has a youth bulge a massive demographic advantage. If empowered with the right skills and opportunities, young people can accelerate GDP growth, reduce poverty, and stabilize the country’s long-term development.
According to the International Labour Organization (ILO), a 1% rise in youth employment in low-income nations like Sierra Leone can lead to 0.3% to 0.4% GDP growth. With over 800,000 young people expected to enter the labor force by 2030, the stakes couldn’t be higher.
The Five Pillars of Youth-Driven Economic Growth
To harness this demographic dividend, Sierra Leone must urgently act across five interconnected policy pillars, grounded in international best practices and customized to local realities:
- Skills for the Digital and Green Economy
The future economy is digital, green, and skills-driven. Yet in Sierra Leone:
- Only 12% of youths aged 15–24are enrolled in tertiary education.
- Less than 20% have access to formal digital training.
Recommendations:
- Roll out Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) centers offering digital literacy, coding, renewable energy, and climate-smart agriculture.
- Integrate digital and environmental education into school curricula from an early stage.
- Establish industry partnerships (e.g., in fintech, agritech, construction) for internships and apprenticeships.
Impact Projection:
If just 30% of youth gain digital skills, productivity in key sectors (agriculture, services, manufacturing) could increase by 10–15% by 2030.
- Jobs and Entrepreneurship: Transforming Potential into Prosperity
Youth unemployment in Sierra Leone is alarmingly high—estimated at over 60%, with most young people engaged in informal or subsistence-level work.
Recommendations:
- Scale up youth-centered employment programs like the Youth in Fisheries Project and the National Youth Service.
- Expand access to youth enterprise funds, startup capital, and innovation hubs particularly for young women and rural entrepreneurs.
- Streamline business registration to reduce barriers to formal entrepreneurship.
Potential Return:
If youth unemployment is reduced by 10%, Sierra Leone could gain NLe 1.2 billion in increased productivity annually.
- Social Inclusion and Mental Health: Building Resilience
Young people face serious challenges beyond jobs violence, poor healthcare access, mental health issues, and housing insecurity are widespread.
Recommendations:
- Ensure universal health coverage, including school-based mental health counseling.
- Expand affordable housing initiatives for young workers and low-income families.
- Strengthen social protection programs targeting youth in high-risk communities (e.g., slums, rural areas).
Social Return:
Social safety nets and health access for youth can cut youth vulnerability by 30%, enhancing long-term productivity and community stability.
- Civic Engagement and Youth Representation
Trust in political institutions among youth is low only 25% express confidence in democratic governance (Afrobarometer, 2023).
Recommendations:
- Create youth desks in every government ministry to mainstream youth priorities.
- Lower the age requirement for holding political office.
- Promote youth leadership via national volunteer corps, civic clubs, and student governance initiatives.
Civic Impact:
Engaged youth populations are three times more likely to contribute to community peacebuilding, environmental action, and innovation.
- Smart Policy, Intergenerational Justice, and Data-Driven Decisions
To future-proof development, Sierra Leone must design policies today with tomorrow in mind.
Recommendations:
- Embed youth priorities into national budgets, public procurement, and infrastructure planning.
- Invest in data systems that track youth outcomes by region, age, and gender.
- Promote intergenerational equity in climate, land use, and education spending.
Policy Efficiency:
Data-driven, inclusive policies have shown to boost program effectiveness by 40–50% in other low-income contexts.
Success Story: Green Jobs in Bo and Kenema
In 2024, a Ministry of Youth Affairs & UNDP pilot program trained 350 youth in solar panel installation and maintenance. Within 9 months:
- 67% found employment or launched green businesses.
- Local energy access increased, and carbon footprints decreased.
Lesson: Targeted investment in green skills = economic empowerment + climate resilience.
Conclusion: Sierra Leone’s Youth Are Ready. Is the Nation?
Sierra Leone’s youth are not a ticking time bomb they are a gold mine of innovation, strength, and economic power. But this demographic dividend won’t cash itself in.
Strategic investment in education, job creation, inclusive governance, and mental well-being can transform Sierra Leone into a thriving, equitable economy by 2035.
The time to act is now.
Empowering youth is not just a policy choice it’s the only path to a stable, prosperous, and inclusive Sierra Leone.
