Introduction

Sierra Leone is losing millions each year in potential national revenue and earnings because half of its population is denied equal access to opportunity and participation. Women’s rights and access to justice are not only human rights issues—they are social and economic imperatives. When women are excluded from land, finance, and formal employment, the nation forfeits growth, innovation, and resilience.

The Cost of Gender Inequality to the Economy

Sierra Leone stands to lose an estimated USD 25 million annually in potential revenue due to structural and systemic violations of women’s rights—particularly their limited access to land, property, finance, and protection from gender-based violence (World Bank, 2023; IMF, 2024). These barriers undermine women’s economic participation and perpetuate cycles of poverty in energy, education, and food security (UNDP MPI Energy Studies).

Adolescent girls are disproportionately affected. 29.6% of women aged 20–24 were married before 18 (UNICEF, 2023), and teenage pregnancy rates remain among the highest in West Africa. These factors reduce girls’ educational attainment and future earning potential, heightening risks of unemployment and political marginalization. Women’s participation in the labour force remains strikingly low: only 4% in skilled labour, 3% in professional sectors, and 10% in construction (FAO/Solidaridad, 2024). The majority—over 70% of women in the informal economy—are petty traders whose businesses lack the scale to drive national growth.

Emerging opportunities in aquaculture and tourism remain underutilized. While more women are entering fisheries, 83% operate at village level and only 15% at district level (FAO, 2024). In tourism, women’s engagement is largely micro-scale, and just 12% have access to technology platforms that could expand market reach (UN Women, 2023). Limited technical skills, high illiteracy rates, restricted access to finance, and exclusion from digital tools continue to hamper women’s ability to generate higher incomes and integrate into the formal economy.

The Barriers

Gender discrimination also persists in entrepreneurship. A study by Simply Business (2022) found that one in three (32%) female entrepreneurs experience sexism, while one in five (19%) face direct gender inequality in business environments. Globally, the World Bank and IMF estimate that closing gender gaps in labour force participation could increase GDP growth by several percentage points (World Bank, 2023; IMF, 2024). For Sierra Leone, exclusion from land ownership, finance, and formal employment translates into billions in lost productivity.

Women and girls’ contributions to Sierra Leone’s economy are systematically constrained by discriminatory norms that restrict their rights to education, land, and governance. Gender socialization continues to frame decision-making as a male domain, silencing women’s voices in community and national development (UN Women, 2023). The UNDP report on Enablers and Drivers of Women’s Participation in Revenue Generation (2023) further highlights that women’s exclusion from fiscal decision-making and revenue mobilisation structures weakens Sierra Leone’s ability to expand its fiscal space and achieve inclusive growth.

The enforcement of petty offences often disproportionately affects poor women, many of whom depend on informal activities such as street vending and petty trading. These activities expose them to confiscation of goods, fines, or short-term detention for minor infractions, which adversely affect their daily income and deepen household poverty.

Looking ahead, Sierra Leone’s high rates of uneducated women and girls pose a critical risk in the rapidly changing global landscape, particularly with advancements in artificial intelligence and digital economies. Without urgent investment in education, skills, and access to technology, structural barriers will intensify, further marginalizing women from national governance and regional and global markets.

Recommendations to Accelerate Women’s Contributions to the Economy

• Strengthen governance and gender-responsive systems:
  Sierra Leone should institutionalize gender-responsive planning and budgeting across all ministries and agencies. Policies should enforce equal pay and employment opportunities, ensuring women’s participation is embedded in both public and private sector decision-making.

• Advance climate-smart agriculture and market access:
  Women’s cooperatives should be supported to adopt climate-smart adaptation techniques, agribusiness skills, and value addition in crop production. Expanding market linkages will enable women to transition from subsistence farming to profitable enterprises that drive rural economic growth.

• Improve social protection and the business environment:
  Social protection measures for women traders must be expanded, alongside reforms that create a more inclusive business environment. Integrating gender considerations into investment regulations will foster equal opportunities and strengthen women’s role in commerce.

• Build skills, technology, and financial competence:
  Investments should focus on enhancing women’s technology, business development, and financial management skills. Expanding competencies in STEM, construction, mechanics, and professional labour will empower adolescent girls and women to enter traditionally male-dominated fields.

• Foster partnerships and job creation:
  Private–public partnerships should be scaled up to generate sustainable jobs for women and girls. Collaboration with industry and government will expand employment pathways, ensuring women are positioned to contribute meaningfully to Sierra Leone’s economic transformation.

Conclusion

As Sierra Leone commemorates International Women’s Day, the message is clear: gender equality is not only a human rights imperative—it is an economic necessity. Empowering women means unlocking untapped potential, expanding fiscal space, and securing sustainable progress for the nation. The choice is stark: continue losing dividends to inequality, or invest in women and watch Sierra Leone prosper.