Fouday S Kamara

Economic and Social Crises in Sierra Leone: the Role of Small-scale Entrepreneurs in Petty Trading As a Strategy for Survival 1960-1996 Fouday S Kamara

Sierra Leone is a small country with rich mineral resources such as diamonds, bauxite, gold and iron ore. Other resources include fishing, forestry and fertile agricultural land, which enable people to farm without any sophisticated methods of mechanization. Nevertheless, with all its wealth in resources, the country is relatively poor and is one of the least developed countries in Sub- Saharan Africa. This has led to an economic and social crisis as well as other complex problems, from political instability and patronage to corruption and economic mismanagement. This study is an effort to understand and discuss the impact on lives of the people in Sierra Leone. The people of Sierra Leone, by developing a business culture of small-scale entrepreneurship and petty trading, have succeeded in surviving the economic chaos, which has accentuated. The study is based on a number of interviews conducted in the country and related literature. Social networks, which expanded during this period, became the hallmark for small-scale entrepreneurs and petty trading, within the institutional framework settings of the country both in the public and private sectors.