Volume 32, Number 1, September 2014
Answers
Development profile: Country J
Peter Smith
This resource provides answers to the questions on Country J in this issue’s Development profile (p. 11), along with commentary.
Country J is a low-income country on the World Bank’s categorisation with GNI per capita in US$ being just $580.It is also classified as a low human development country by the UNDP (United Nations Development Programme).It clearly faces some major challenges, not helped by the civil war that lasted from 1991 until 2002.
Did you manage to identify the country?There are some clues in the text – not least the long period in which it was subjected to a civil war.The fact that it was a key departure point for slaves during the transatlantic slave trade suggests a country in the west of Africa, so that also helps to narrow things down. If you are familiar with the names of capital cities of west African countries, you may know that there is a country whose capital city is Freetown, established by British abolitionists in 1787. (I’m not very good at capital cities myself, but I have sometimes seen the TV programme Pointless, and know that some people are extremely knowledgeable about such things.)So the country is Sierra Leone, which remains one of the poorest countries in the world.
Rapid population growth
For a country such as Sierra Leone, a rapid population growth rate of 3.1% can be a challenge. It could be argued that emerging from a period of civil war, the country’s population needs to be expanded if the country is to make good use of its resources.However, this is likely to be more than offset by the difficulty of feeding, educating and providing healthcare for a young population. Notice that if a country has its population growing at 3.1% per annum, the population will double in just under 24 years. This puts enormous pressure on the country’s limited resources.
Sierra Leone is a relatively small country, with an estimated population of around 6 million. There are some 16 ethnic groups, each with its own language and customs, although about 90% of the people speak Krio.
The effects of civil war
Apart from the obvious effects in terms of disruption to the economy, a civil war is likely to leave collateral damage in terms of the country’s infrastructure. Buildings and transport and communications networks are likely to be damaged in the fighting, not to mention the legacy in terms of injured and disabled people.
The importance of having good infrastructure in terms of transport, communications, market facilities, schools, hospitals and healthcare facilities is paramount if a country is to be able to experience human development and economic growth. It may take many years to restore good services after a civil war, especially for a country that was one of the world’s poorest even before the start of the conflict.
The development of human capital is a vital first step on the road to development, but is likely to have been hindered during the conflict. Investment in physical capital is also likely to have been affected.During an extended civil war, people are bound to have pessimistic expectations about the future, and are thus unlikely to have an incentive to undertake investment, in physical or human capital. Building confidence in the future is thus important.Overseas assistance may be helpful in this regard.If the international community shows confidence in building for the future, this may rub off on the population.A positive sign for the future of Sierra Leone is that almost a quarter of the country’s gross national income came from official development assistance in 2010, and 4.5% of gross domestic product was in the form of foreign direct investment.
1