Sierra Leone

Economy & income

1 USD = 24.36 SLE live rate

Currency: Sierra Leonean leone / 'new leone' (SLE, symbol Le, sometimes written NLe)
~23 SLE per USD (2026, Trading Economics/BSL)
redenominated 1 Jul 2022 at 1,000 old leones (SLL) = 1 new leone (SLE)
GDP per capita: ~$865-874 nominal (2025 est., World Bank $865 / IMF $874)
~$3,516 PPP (2024, World Bank; World Economics estimates ~$3,099) — one of the world's lowest
Average salary: ~$108/mo gross (~Le2,500; wage.is, 2026)
some trackers cite ~$120-135
net lower — figures reflect formal-sector jobs only, most labor is informal so real average earnings are far lower
wage data thin
Median salary: n/a — no reliable national median-wage series published
large informal economy and thin statistics-office data make any figure unreliable
Minimum wage: National minimum wage NLe800/mo (~$35) since 1 Apr 2023 (raised from NLe600)
Labour Ministry itself calls it inadequate vs cost of living
weak enforcement in informal/rural sectors
Cost of living: Low — Numbeo Freetown (updated Jun 2025) has only ~6 contributors / 37 price entries, so treat as indicative only
roughly ~50% below the US average

Digital landscape

Population: 8.73 million (Jan 2025, DataReportal; +2.1% YoY)
Internet users: 20.7% (~1.80 million users; +2.4% YoY) — ~6.93M remain offline
Social media users: 13.2% (~1.15 million identities; 23.7% of the 18+ population; +12.9% YoY)
Mobile connections: 8.66 million cellular connections = 99.2% of population (79.0% on 3G/4G/5G broadband)
Devices: mobile ~54.5% / desktop ~44.4% / tablet ~1.2% (StatCounter, Jun 2026)
Ad spend: n/a — DataReportal publishes no total digital ad-spend figure for Sierra Leone (market too small; spend concentrated in Meta, Google/YouTube plus dominant local radio)
Meta ad reach: Facebook ~1.15M, Messenger ~295K, Instagram ~109K
Top social platforms: Facebook ~1.15M ad reach, #1; +12.9% YoY

TikTok booming; local star Zainne Zilla ~7M followers; no published local ad reach

Facebook Messenger ~295K ad reach

LinkedIn ~180K registered members

Instagram ~109K

X/Twitter ~39K, declining

WhatsApp — near-universal messaging/social among online users
Messengers: WhatsApp (dominant OTT messenger)
Facebook Messenger (~295K)
IMO (popular for cheap intl/diaspora calls)
Telegram (niche/growing)

Ad regulations

Gambling & betting Legal

LEGAL — land-based betting, lottery and casinos are licensed and supervised by units within the Ministry of Finance and the National Lottery Authority; principal legal operators are Mercury International and the Sierra Leone State Lottery Company; ONLINE gambling is largely unregulated (no dedicated online-licensing body); a 10% betting tax was imposed via the 2024 Finance Act; 18+; retail betting shops are very popular

Crypto Restricted

RESTRICTED — no dedicated legal framework and not legal tender; the Bank of Sierra Leone has issued no crypto regulations; neither expressly legal nor illegal — a tolerated grey zone under the Banking Act 2019 and AML/CFT Act 2012

Adult Restricted

RESTRICTED — no explicit online-porn statute, but a ~78% Muslim, socially conservative society; public-morality/obscenity norms apply and there is no dedicated regulator; keep any adult creatives modest

Dating Allowed

ALLOWED — no specific ban, but a small, conservative market; mainstream apps used discreetly; note male same-sex acts remain criminalized (colonial-era Offences Against the Person Act 1861), so LGBTQ-themed content is sensitive

Finance & loans Restricted

RESTRICTED — banks, microfinance institutions and mobile-money lenders are supervised by the Bank of Sierra Leone; microfinance and mobile-money credit are expanding; AML/KYC expected; watch predatory-lending exposure

Nutra & pharma Restricted

RESTRICTED — medicines, cosmetics and nutritional products and their advertising are controlled by the Pharmacy Board of Sierra Leone (PBSL) under the Pharmacy and Drugs Act 2001 (ad pre-approval required); unregistered products and unsubstantiated health claims are prohibited; ALL tobacco/nicotine advertising is banned (Tobacco and Nicotine Control Act 2022)

Regulators

Independent Media Commission / IMC (media & advertising code of practice)
National Lottery Authority + Ministry of Finance (gambling)
Bank of Sierra Leone (finance/crypto)
Pharmacy Board of Sierra Leone / PBSL (nutra/pharma)
NATCOM (telecom & broadcast)

Notes

The IMC Media Code of Practice governs print, electronic media and advertising
regulatory capacity and enforcement are limited and many verticals sit in grey areas
English and Krio are the standard ad languages
radio remains the true mass-reach advertising channel

Payments & behaviour

Payment methods: Cash / cash-on-delivery (default for retail & e-commerce)
Orange Money (leading mobile-money wallet)
Afrimoney / Africell Money (mobile money)
Bank transfer (limited; urban & formal-sector only)
Cards Visa/Mastercard (rare — hotels/airport/expats)
Western Union / Ria / MoneyGram (diaspora remittances)
E-wallets: Orange Money
Afrimoney (Africell Money)
QMoney (QCell)
Cash on delivery: High — cash-on-delivery is the default for online orders given very low card penetration and low buyer trust
E-commerce: Low but growing — market ~$190M (2022) projected toward ~$390M by 2025 (trade.gov)
Jumia does NOT operate in Sierra Leone, so social commerce (Facebook/Instagram/WhatsApp shops) plus local sites (e.g. SaloneKart) dominate
Notes: National Payments Switch launched 2023 enabling interoperability across banks, MFIs, MNO wallets and fintechs
digital financial-services adoption rose from ~9% (2017) to ~30% of adults (2019)
Africell and Orange are the two dominant MNOs

Audience & culture

Languages: Krio (English-based creole; the lingua franca — understood by ~90-95%, first language for ~10%)
English (official; literate/urban minority)
Temne (~35% ethnic north)
Mende (~31% ethnic south)
Limba, Kono, Fullah/Fula and other indigenous tongues
Religion: Muslim ~78.5% (mostly Sunni), Christian ~20.4% (mostly Protestant), traditional/other ~1.1% (Pew, 2020)
notably harmonious inter-religious coexistence
Median age: 19.7 years (DataReportal, Jan 2025) — very young population
Key seasons: Ramadan (evening activity spike)
Eid al-Fitr
Eid al-Adha
Christmas & New Year (Christian minority; peak retail)
Independence Day (27 April)
AFCON / EPL football (drives betting)
Rainy season May-Oct (connectivity & logistics dip)
Cultural notes: Mobile-first and highly data-cost-sensitive (favor light creatives + WhatsApp)
strong oral culture — audio/video and radio beat text (adult literacy ~43-48%)
Krio is the unifying ad language
community/family purchasing and heavy remittance dependence
football is central
Where to find creators: TikTok
Facebook
Instagram
YouTube
WhatsApp groups
Local radio personalities

Media landscape

Top media outlets

1 Awoko English; leading privately-owned hybrid print+digital daily — national news, politics & investigative reporting
2 Standard Times English; long-running leading daily newspaper
3 Concord Times English; established Freetown daily — politics & business
4 Politico SL English; digital outlet specializing in political reporting & public affairs
5 Sierra Leone Telegraph English; popular diaspora-oriented online news & commentary
6 Radio Democracy 98.1 / SLBC Radio Democracy = leading private radio; SLBC = state radio+TV — radio is the dominant mass medium (228+ stations, 2022)

Top YouTube channels

1 AYV Sierra Leone (African Young Voices) n/a (flagship TV/news multimedia channel; count not verifiable via public tools)
2 Music Sparks n/a (top Sierra Leone music-aggregator channel, founded 2017)
3 SLBC (Sierra Leone Broadcasting Corp.) n/a (state broadcaster)
4 Latest Sierra Leone Music n/a (SL music channel)
5 Drizilik n/a (top artist's official channel)
6 Star Zee n/a (artist channel)

Creators & public figures

Top creators

D

Drizilik (Benjamin Menelik George) n/a exact — Sierra Leone's #1 rapper (Krio-fusion; 12M+ streams)

YouTube/InstagramMusic/youth culture — the country's biggest music export, strongest brand-endorsement pull

Z

Zainne Zilla (Zainnie Zilla) ~7M TikTok

TikTokSierra Leone's most-followed TikTok star & rapper — mass Gen-Z entertainment reach

A

Ambrose Tee ~3.8M TikTok (peak; hit by an account report/reset)

TikTokComedy/entertainment TikToker — huge youth following

K

Kao Denero (Amara Denis Turay) n/a exact — veteran rapper & label boss

Instagram/YouTubeHip-hop; government-appointed Special Envoy for Entertainment & Investment — strong establishment ties

Emmerson Bockarie ~150K cross-platform

Facebook/YouTubeSocially-conscious singer — Sierra Leone's most respected/popular musician, huge cultural pull

S

Star Zee (Linda Samai) n/a exact — leading female rapper

Instagram/YouTubeHip-hop/Afropop; toured UK/Australia — female-audience reach

V

Vickie Remoe ~50K Instagram

Instagram/YouTubeMedia personality & entrepreneur ('The Vickie Remoe Show') — brand/lifestyle & business audience

K

King Boss LAJ n/a exact — top Afropop/dancehall star

Instagram/YouTubeAfropop; festival headliner — mainstream youth reach

Celebrities

Idris Elba ~7M Instagram

Actor/DJ; father is Sierra Leonean, granted SL citizenship (2019); leads the Sherbro Island eco-city project

Julius Maada Bio ~29K Instagram (larger Facebook following)

President of Sierra Leone (since 2018)

M

Mohamed Kallon n/a exact — veteran icon

Retired footballer legend (Inter Milan, Monaco, AS Monaco) — Sierra Leone's most famous footballer

Steven Caulker n/a exact

Footballer & former Sierra Leone national-team captain (ex-Tottenham, Liverpool, QPR); retired 2025

Kei Kamara ~109K Instagram

Veteran striker (long MLS career) & Sierra Leone international

Mohamed Buya Turay n/a exact

Striker for the Sierra Leone national team (Leone Stars)

Affiliate & traffic

Hot verticals: Sports betting / iGaming
Mobile VAS & subscriptions
Fintech / mobile-money microloans
COD nutra (health & beauty) & gadgets
Sweepstakes (win-a-phone)
Dating (discreet)
Active networks: 1xBet Partners
Betwinner Affiliates
Melbet Partners
Mostbet Partners
Adsterra & PropellerAds/RichAds-sourced pop/push
Mobidea / smartlink networks
No significant Sierra Leone-only networks
Payouts: Tier-3 low payouts — betting CPA/FTD ~$5-25, CPL ~$0.5-3, nutra COD AOV ~$20-40 with thin margins & low approval, pin-submit small
USD-denominated payouts common
CPMs very cheap
Competition: Low — a small standalone market, usually bundled into 'West Africa' or 'Tier-3 Africa' media buys
Seasonality: Football calendar (EPL/AFCON) drives betting
Ramadan/Eid and Dec holidays lift spend
end-of-month payday spikes
rainy season May-Oct dips connectivity & logistics
Traffic sources: Facebook/Meta ads
TikTok
Push & pop (RichAds, PropellerAds)
WhatsApp & Telegram groups
In-app / mobile ads
Local radio & music/football influencer shout-outs
SEO/ASO

Good to know

Capital: Freetown
Major cities: Freetown (~1.2M metro)
Bo (~230K)
Kenema (~200K)
Makeni (~125K)
Koidu/Sefadu (~125K)
Waterloo
Port Loko
Time zones: Single zone — GMT (UTC+0), no daylight saving
Android vs iOS: 88%

Android 88% iOS 12%
Phone brands: Samsung (~24.7%)
Tecno (~17.6%)
Infinix (~11.7%)
Apple (~11.6%)
Motorola (~5.6%)
itel & other Transsion budget Androids
Top e-commerce: Social commerce (Facebook/Instagram/WhatsApp shops)
SaloneKart
Local classifieds & WhatsApp vendors
Orange Money / Afrimoney merchant payments
No Jumia or Amazon presence
Peak activity: Evenings ~19:00-23:00 GMT after work (cheaper night data); later during Ramadan; weekends strong; morning radio drive-time for cross-promotion
Creative taboos: Avoid: disrespect of Islam or Christianity, nudity/explicit sexual content, LGBTQ themes (same-sex acts criminalized)
handle civil-war (1991-2002) and Ebola (2014-16) trauma with care
substantiate all health & finance claims
Also worth knowing: Build funnels on mobile money (Orange Money/Afrimoney) + cash-on-delivery, not cards.
Radio + WhatsApp + Krio-language creatives are the true mass-reach combo — pair any digital push with radio.
Betting tied to football/music influencers is the highest-ROI play; TikTok is exploding (Zainne Zilla ~7M) and still underpriced for reach.