By Davida Spaine-Solomon
Freetown, 17th November 2025– “Every time I import, I end up paying more,” said thirty-one-year-old Zainab Conteh, with her voice coated with sadness. For more than 17 years, she has bought and sold beauty products for women, but lately the trade has tightened around her, becoming harder to navigate with each passing month.
For a business that is located in a thriving district, her business still bustles with customers. Yet, the soaring costs of doing business and tightening regulations have carved a path of growing frustration.
With her nine-month-old baby nestled in her arms, she fights daily to balance the demands of motherhood with the struggle to keep her business alive.
“Transport costs, clearance fees, and delays keep increasing. Sometimes the goods arrive before the paperwork,” she expressed.
For someone who has weathered the many ups and downs of the trade, she is now caught between the devil of keeping her business thriving and the Red Sea of rising regulations and crushing costs. For someone who had a history of sourcing her products like cosmetics for women, fabrics, women’s wear, and wigs from China to Nigeria to Sierra Leone, the rhythm of the business she understands has changed. “We do not want favours,” Conteh said. “We just want a system that works.”
But Conteh is just one of many small-scale Sierra Leonean business owners who are trapped in this situation. The World Bank said that high costs of trading, border delays, and complex import procedures are placing significant pressure on Sierra Leone’s small businesses.
It explained that high tariffs, non-tariff barriers, slow processing times, and limited digitalization at customs are the undeniable hindrances affecting traders. It furthered that poor transportation and logistics infrastructure, such as roads linking ports to markets, also contributed to unpredictable business costs.
According to the World Bank’s Sierra Leone Economic Update 2025, the private sector is dominated by small, informal, and cash-dependent firms. Beyond import challenges, businesses continue to face high operating expenses and persistent difficulties accessing credit. It showed that 47.5 percent of firms cited access to finance as their top constraint.
The World Bank Group country manager for Sierra Leone, Abdu Muwonge, said that “unlocking the potential of the private sector remains critical to diversifying Sierra Leone’s economy and creating more meaningful jobs.”
He stressed the need to sustain the current reform trajectory to restore macroeconomic stability by improving the investment climate, and strengthening social spending will foster inclusive growth and development.
Experts stressed the importance of revitalising Sierra Leone’s private sector to enable employment creation and boost economic prosperity.
Revitalizing Sierra Leone’s private sector is essential for unlocking the country’s growth potential and creating more jobs,” said Subika Farazi, World Bank Senior Economist and co-author of the report.
“As highlighted in the new World Bank Group flagship report, B-READY 2024, there is room to improve and strengthen Sierra Leone’s regulatory environment and service delivery.
By doing so, the country can foster a more dynamic, resilient, and competitive business climate that empowers entrepreneurs and attracts investment.
Slow Progress on Regional Trade and Youths bear the brunt
The report disclosed Sierra Leone’s limited ability to benefit from regional markets such as ECOWAS and the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA). It cited weak border management, lack of harmonised standards, and slow progress in trade-facilitation reforms as a few things that hinder competitiveness.
Many young entrepreneurs are bearing the brunt of the economic shortcomings.
A twenty-six-year-old shoe vendor, Ibrahim (second name), is among the people struggling to sustain their businesses. He lamented that the rising clearing cost reduced his recent importation.
This singular act has occurred numerous times, and his customers are getting frustrated for not getting the necessary goods from him.
“I am losing customers because I do not have enough stock,” he said. “But I cannot increase my order; the charges keep going up.”
However, to address these teething challenges, the World Bank recommended a series of reforms, such as maximum digitalisation of customs systems, upgrading transport infrastructure, and simplification and modernisation of trade regulations.
Furthermore, the global financial institution suggested the expansion of access to finance for Small and Medium-sized Enterprises and the strengthening of national readiness for AfCFTA participation.
According to the report, implementing these reforms is essential to reducing business costs, improving competitiveness, and enabling the private sector to drive economic growth.
