Two years into the Bio administration the proportion of Sierra Leoneans who say the country is going in the wrong direction has increased. 68% of Sierra Leoneans say the country is going in the wrong direction, according to nonpartisan pan African survey research network, Afrobarometer Dispatch No. 384 which looks at citizens’ views on the economy. According to the findings, “only one-third of Sierra Leoneans (32%) say the country is ‘going in the right direction’”, which is a 13-percentage-point decline compared to 2018 (45%). The survey states that the perception that the country is moving in the right direction is more common in ruling party strongholds – Southern (57%) and Eastern (53%) regions – than in opposition party strongholds – Western (16%) and Northern (14%) regions.
However, just one in 10 Sierra Leoneans (11%) describe the country’s economic condition as “fairly good” or “very good”. Negative assessments (84%) have almost doubled since 2012 (46%). The survey further states that only two in 10 citizens (19%) describe their personal living conditions as “fairly good” or “very good”. 72% say their living conditions are “fairly” or “very bad”, which has increased by 32 percentage points since 2012 (40%).
Nine in 10 respondents (89%) say they went without a cash income at least once during the year preceding the survey, including 43% who did so “many times” or “always”. Many of the respondents report experiencing shortages of medical care (81%), food (70%), and clean water (68%). The government received lower approval ratings on its economic performance than on other issues.
Meanwhile, fewer than two in 10 respondents say the government is doing a good job of handling the economy (19%), improving living standards of the poor (15%), narrowing income gaps (10%), creating jobs (10%), and keeping prices stable (7%). In line with popular disapproval of the direction of the country, Sierra Leoneans are overwhelmingly dissatisfied with the country’s economy.
Eight in 10 citizens (84%) describe the country’s economic condition as “fairly bad” or “very bad,” almost double the proportion in 2012 (46%). Only one in 10 (11%) say the country’s economic condition is “fairly good” or “very good”, about a quarter of the proportion recorded in 2012 (41%) and similar to the 2015 result (12%). This wipes out a modest improvement recorded in 2018 (21%) following the arrival of the new Bio administration.
Dissatisfaction with the country’s economic condition is high across key socio-demographic groups, dropping to around three-fourths only among respondents with “low” or “no lived poverty” (73%-76%). A large majority of citizens are also unhappy with their personal living conditions: 72%, describing them as “fairly bad” or “very bad” (Figure 6).
Similarly, assessments of personal living conditions have not returned to the pre-austerity period of 2012, when just 40% of citizens said their living conditions were bad. Citizens’ views of the country’s economy and their personal living conditions are reflective of the increasing levels of deprivation in their everyday lives. To gauge “lived poverty,” Afrobarometer asked respondents how often, during the previous 12 months, they or a family has gone with five basic necessities (enough food and clean water, medical care, enough cooking fuel, and a cash income).
Nine in 10 Sierra Leoneans (89%) say they went without a cash income at least once during the previous year, including 43% who lacked a cash income “many times” or “always”. Large majorities also experienced shortages of medical care (81%), food (70%), and clean water (68%), while more than half (52%) went without cooking fuel at least once.
Calculated based on the frequency of these reported shortages, Afrobarometer’s Lived Poverty Index shows that two-thirds (67%) of Sierra Leoneans experienced moderate or high lived poverty during the previous year, while one-third (33%) experienced low or no lived poverty. Compared to 2018, the proportion of citizens experiencing moderate or high levels of lived poverty increased by 15 percentage points (from 52% to 67%).
By Ophaniel Gooding