External mid-term evaluation : the small enterprise development and training project/Sierra Leone -- Opportunities Industrialization Centers International, Inc.

Mid-term evaluation covers the period 1989-2/93. The project, the only one of its kind in Sierra Leone, is responding to the urgent need to strengthen Sierra Leone's private sector, particularly micro and small enterprises. It is especially relevant to the Government of Sierra Leone's (GOSL) attempts to reach out to rural areas, involve more Sierra Leoneans in the development process, and thereby achieve a broader base of production capacity; four of SLOIC's five existing training programs are in Bo (2) and Makeni (2), with two additional programs being planned for Mattru Jong. SLOIC has implemented the major components outlined in the project document, but the programs are young, and it would be premature to try to assess their impact. Moreover, the project is being implemented during a period of profound social, political, and economic instability. The situation in Sierra Leone since 1988 has negatively affected the project's target group and undermined most of the assumptions of its initial design. The project's inputs and expected benefits have become more valuable, however, as the country's financial conditions have worsened due to worldwide economic difficulties and internal problems related to the civil war in Liberia. The resources that can be mobilized from within and outside of the country are currently limited in both time and scope. As the evaluation was concluding, the GOSL was considering closing its National Industrial Development Finance Organization (NIDFO) for reorganization; NIDFO has been the only major public institution established specifically to promote small and medium industries and assist entrepreneurs. SLOIC has already conducted several seminars in management and business development for NIDFO's clients. PLAN International has been a major partner of SLOIC since 1989, when PLAN funded the construction of SLOIC's vocational training center in Makeni. According to the agreement between the two PVOs, PLAN will provide for a major part of the center's equipment and operating costs until November 1994, while SLOIC will take 75% of its vocational trainees from students sponsored by PLAN. SLOIC's training activities complement PLAN's objectives to alleviate poverty and socioeconomic inequalities while facilitating increased productivity and employment. SLOIC is also aggressively seeking UNDP support for its microenterprise development activities, particularly those expected to take place in Mattru Jong. A proposal has been submitted to UNDP in the light of UNDP's emphasis on human resource development, training, grassroots initiatives, credit and employment in its fifth country program for Sierra Leone.