Entrepreneurship in Sierra Leone: Navigating Challenges Amidst Socio-Political Transformations

Entrepreneurship in Sierra LeoneEntrepreneurship in Sierra Leone has gained significant attention from scholars and policymakers in recent years due to its potential to promote economic growth and development. There have been several initiatives, from legislations and government agencies tasked to facilitate entrepreneurship and business venturing, to the creation of enterprise hubs, enterprise competitions and trainings. However, in comparison with its more widely known sub-Saharan African neighbours, Nigeria and Ghana, entrepreneurship researchEntrepreneurship research on Sierra Leone is limited and fragmented and fails to provide a clear overview of the status-quo of entrepreneurship in the country. This book chapter explores some of the contributory factors to the current state quo of entrepreneurship in Sierra Leone. It considers key socioeconomic and political factors which have shaped and influenced the business environment of the country and explore their impact on the country’s entrepreneurial landscapeEntrepreneur/entrepreneurial landscape. This exploration highlights key challenges to entrepreneurship encompassing issues such as infrastructure and sociocultural barriersSociocultural barriers. It also examines pro-active measures taken by the Government of Sierra Leone (GoSL) to nurture and strengthen its entrepreneurial ecosystem. The chapter concludes by highlighting potential areas for further research and suggesting policy interventions to promote entrepreneurship in Sierra Leone.