EU-Sierra Leone Economic Partnership.

The EU have strong trade and economic relations with Sierra Leone. According to COMTRADE statistics, in 2022, the EU accounted for 12% of Sierra Leonean exports 12% and 17% of the imports. Sierra Leone mainly exports primary products to the EU such as minerals, cocoa beans, coffee and palm oil. The country imports from the EU manufactured goods, food products and fuels.

According to the statics of the European Commission's trade department (DG TRADE), in 2021, European Direct Investment stocks in Sierra Leone were estimated to be EUR 256 million EUR. EU companies based in Sierra Leone are among the biggest taxpayers in the country and operate in key sector of the economy of Sierra Leone such as aviation, renewable energies, beverages, construction, IT and telecommunication. They are also accountable in their respective Member States and have to comply with the Sierra Leonean and EU requirements, regulations and standards.

As a least developed country, Sierra Leone benefits from privileged access to the EU via the Everything But Arms (EBA) scheme. The EBA scheme removes tariffs and quotas for all imports of goods (except arms and ammunition), coming into the EU from least developed countries (LDCs). It is a component of the Generalized System of Preferences (GSP) granted by the EU to the developing countries. 

The EU has initiated an Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA) with 16 West African states, including Sierra Leone. Until the adoption of the full regional EPA with West Africa, 'stepping stone' Economic Partnership Agreements with Ivory Coast and Ghana entered into provisional application in 2016.

Sierra Leone has made efforts to integrate into international and regional trade. The country is a member of the World Tarde Organization (WTO) since 1995. The country has deposited its instrument of ratification of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) Agreement. Sierra Leone is also a member of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) and benefits from the ECOWAS Trade Liberalization Scheme (ETLS), which is a trade instrument aimed at encouraging duty free trade among ECOWAS Member States. However, in 2022, only 5% of Sierra Leonean trade was with African countries.

Through its development cooperation, the EU has supported food security, agricultural value chains, quality infrastructure, access to finance and business environment reforms in order to create jobs, improve the trade competitiveness and attract foreign investments in Sierra Leone.