The Relationship Between Law, Foreign Investment and Economic Development in Sierra Leone

Foreign direct investment is one of the mechanisms used to provide capital inflows and to stimulate a country’s economic growth. Besides being a driver for stimulating economic growth, FDI is believed to inter alia, increase employment, enhance managerial skills amongst local workforces in the host country, and promote technology spillovers and technical knowhow. Sierra Leone has reformed some of its FDI policy initiatives in an attempt to attract foreign investors. This paper investigates the effects of FDI on economic growth with reference to the economy of Sierra Leone’s post-conflict environment. This paper begins by reviewing FDI in Sierra Leone and also examining the current FDI regime adopted by the government. There is also a review of the literature on foreign direct investment and economic growth. The results from my research show that even though FDI in flow can bring about positive impacts on the economy, it does not necessarily bring about sustainable economic growth.