SIERRA LEONE‘S INFRASTRUCTURE: A CONTINENTAL PERSPECTIVE

**Table 7. Benchmarking air-transport indicators for Sierra Leone and selected other countries**

|Country|Sierra<br>Leone|Liberia|Guinea|Côte<br>d'Ivoire|Guinea<br>Bissau|Senegal|
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|_Traffic (2007)_|||||||
|Domestic seats (seats per year)|n.a.|n.a.|n.a.|n.a.|n.a.|127,244|
|Seats for international travel within Africa (seats per year)|179,629|121,445|205,916|851,003|46,566|1,259,410|
|Seats for intercontinental travel (seats per year)|48,893|40,040|111,462|297,891|20,280|1,231,358|
|Seats available per capita|0.039|0.044|0.034|0.060|0.039|0.218|
|Herfindahl index – air transport market (%)|16.66|24.31|20.48|9.75|50.69|11.64|
|Quality:|||||||
|Percent of seat km in newer aircraft|54.9|32.9|95.1|90.8|100.0|98.3|
|Percent of seat km in medium or smaller aircraft|67.1|90.0|37.8|46.8|0.0|38.1|
|Percent of carriers passing IATA/IOSA Audit|0|0|0|0|0|50|
|FAA/IASA Audit Status|No Audit|No Audit|No Audit|Failed|No Audit|No Audit|

Source: Bofinger 2008. Derived from AICD national database downloadable from http://www.infrastructureafrica.org/aicd/tools/data Note: All data as of 2007 based on estimations and computations of scheduled advertised seats, as published by the Diio SRS Analyzer. This captures 98 percent of world-wide traffic, but a higher percentage of African traffic is not captured by the data. The Herfindahl-Hirschmann index is a commonly accepted measure of market concentration. It is calculated by squaring the market share of each firm competing in the market and then summing the resulting numbers. A HHI of 100 indicates the market is a monopoly, while a lower the HHI the more diluted is the market power as exerted by one company/agent. n.a. = not applicable.

# Water resources

Sierra Leone is well endowed with water compared to other West African countries. The country is considered water-abundant as it has 30,960 cubic meters per capita per year of renewable water resources, one of the highest in Sub-Saharan Africa. Sierra Leone can be divided into twelve river basins, of which five are shared with Guinea and two with Liberia. The most important ones, from west to east, are the Kolente (Great Scarcies), Kaba, Rokel, Pampana (Jong), Sewa, Moa, and Mano. With rainfall ranges from 1,900 to 4,000 millimeters per year, averaging 2,526 millimeters per year, Sierra Leone is one of the most humid countries in Africa.

But population growth, urbanization, and industrialization put pressure on water supply. Sierra Leone‘s population growth (at 3.4 percent annually) put a significant pressure on water resources, which adds to the effects of climate variability on water availability. Demand for drinking water has increased over time, in particular due to the increasing rate of urbanization (at 4 percent annually). About 30 percent of the rural population obtains its water from surface sources, including rivers and ponds. Need for agricultural production adds to the stress. The industrial sector is also growing. Given the wide range of conflicting uses (agriculture, water supply, and industry), it is essential to have a clearly defined basis for allocating water rights among sectors so as to maximize their development impact. Beyond large-scale storage investments, the development of small-scale irrigation projects would do much to alleviate rural poverty and enhance the resilience of rural livelihoods.

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