Liberia and Sierra Leone: Sustainable Paths to Development?

Over a decade removed from devastating civil wars in Liberia (2003) and Sierra Leone (2002), both states have unsurprisingly placed a strong emphasis on post-conflict economic development. Despite a streak of impressive GDP growth in both states, a host of underlying structural deficiencies are readily apparent. Long-term natural resource reliance subjects both economies to the boom and bust cycle of global commodity markets while simultaneously encouraging rent-seeking behavior. More specifically, Liberia’s growing iron ore sector and Sierra Leone’s diamond exports have generated pockets of wealth, though the profits have not trickled down to the public at-large. The purpose of this paper is two-fold. I first explore how two very similar countries have approached post-conflict development. Secondly, I analyze the opportunities and obstacles to sustainable economic develop-ment in both states. The preliminary evidence presented in this paper suggests that Liberia’s pursuit of good governance policies through the Governance and Economic Management Assistance Pro-gram (GEMAP) places it in a relatively better position to attract both foreign direct investment and bilateral aid in the coming years. Conversely, Sierra Leone’s unwillingness to seriously combat institu-tional corruption will likely serve as an impediment to stable economic development. While develop-ment in both states could very well be mitigated by a host of exogenous factors (environmental catas-trophe, conflict-spillover, disease), this paper advances the argument that good governance and eco-nomic diversification must remain top priorities