Africa-Press – Sierra-Leone. Sierra Leone’s ambition to secure a second major grant from the United States’ Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC) has suffered a significant setback, with the newly released 2026 scorecard showing a sharp decline in the nation’s performance on key democratic and economic indicators.
The MCC scorecard, a critical tool used to determine a country’s eligibility for multi-million dollar compacts, reveals that Sierra Leone passed only 9 out of 20 indicators, a performance that places it well below the typical threshold for selection.
The MCC scorecard analysis, which evaluates a country’s commitment to “Ruling Justly,” “Investing in People,” and “Economic Freedom,” showed that Sierra Leone passed two of the three mandatory “hard hurdles”—Control of Corruption and Personal Freedom—but ultimately failed the overall performance due to poor results in economic indicators.
Under Economic Freedom, Sierra Leone performed strongly in Women in the Economy (95%) and Employment Opportunity (82%) but struggled in areas such as Access to Credit (11%), Business Start-Up (28%), and Trade Policy (50%). The report also noted challenges with Inflation (28.4%) and Regulatory Quality (38%).
In the Investing in People category, Sierra Leone recorded a mixed performance scoring high in Primary Education Completion Rate (97%) and Health Expenditures (64%), but falling short in Child Health (18%) and Natural Resource Protection (31%).
Under Ruling Justly, the country showed improvements in Control of Corruption (71%), Freedom of Information (95%), and Rule of Law (60th percentile). However, Government Effectiveness (38%) and Government Accountability (84%) remain areas of concern.
Despite the overall failure to meet the majority of MCC benchmarks, the report suggests some progress in governance transparency and anti-corruption measures. However, it highlights the urgent need for policy reforms in economic management, human capital investment, and institutional effectiveness to improve Sierra Leone’s standing in future assessments.
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