Criminal market
4.96
Human Trafficking
6.61
Human Smuggling
6.22
Arms Trafficking
6.78
Flora Crimes
4.56
Fauna Crimes
5.17
Non-Renewable Resources Crimes
5.17
Heroin Trade
3.89
Cocaine Trade
2.61
Cannabis Trade
5.61
Synthetic Drugs Trade
2.94
Criminal Actors
6.06
Mafia-Style Groups
4.33
Criminal Networks
6.56
State-Embedded Actors
7.00
Foreign Actors
6.33
Political Leadership and Governance
3.67
Government Transparency and Accountability
2.61
International Cooperation
4.17
National Policies and Laws
4.56
Judicial System and Detention
3.56
Law Enforcement
3.72
Territorial Integrity
4.39
Anti-Money Laundering
4.11
Economic Regulatory Environment
3.72
Victim and Witness Support
1.78
Prevention
2.44
Non-State Actors
3.33
Indeed, six of the nine countries in the region appear in the top 20 highest-scoring countries for criminality, with Somalia and South Sudan leading the way in joint-fourth position, followed closely by Sudan, with the sixth highest criminality score in Africa. In the region, strong trends were identified in both criminal markets and criminal actors, as well as resilience. The region averages higher in terms of criminality (5.51) than the rest of the continent (4.97), with criminal markets at 4.96 (compared to Africa’s overall score of 4.68) and actors at 6.06 (where Africa averages 5.25). In line with other regions, criminal actors in East Africa drive up the overall criminality score. The most prevalent criminal markets in East Africa as a whole are for human trafficking, human smuggling and arms trafficking, each with average scores considerably higher than in the rest of Africa. While East Africa’s average criminal market score is actually lower than West Africa’s, its average criminal actor score of 6.06 is the highest of the five regions on the continent by a notable margin, driven predominantly by the influence of both criminal networks and state-embedded actors. In terms of resilience, East Africa is overall the second least resilient region (after Central Africa), with an average resilience score of 3.50, compared to the African average of 3.86. As is the case with many countries across the continent, resilience measures in this region are focused primarily on heavy security frameworks, at the expense of 'softer' response mechanisms.
Criminal market
5.00
Human Trafficking
5.00
Human Smuggling
2.50
Arms Trafficking
5.00
Flora Crimes
6.50
Fauna Crimes
6.50
Non-Renewable Resources Crimes
7.00
Heroin Trade
2.00
Cocaine Trade
4.00
Cannabis Trade
7.00
Synthetic Drugs Trade
4.50
Criminal Actors
5.00
Mafia-Style Groups
1.00
Criminal Networks
5.50
State-Embedded Actors
7.00
Foreign Actors
6.50
Political Leadership and Governance
3.00
Government Transparency and Accountability
2.50
International Cooperation
4.00
National Policies and Laws
2.50
Judicial System and Detention
3.00
Law Enforcement
4.00
Territorial Integrity
4.00
Anti-Money Laundering
3.00
Economic Regulatory Environment
3.00
Victim and Witness Support
2.50
Prevention
3.00
Non-State Actors
5.50
The country’s most prominent criminal markets are those pertaining to the environmental sector, all three of which having a significant negative impact in Sierra Leone. Pangolin trafficking, illegal diamond mining and illicit logging activities all contribute to the high environmental-crime scores – from 6.5 to 7. Also noteworthy is the widespread production and consumption of cannabis, reported as having permeated every sector of Sierra Leonean society. State-embedded criminal actors are particularly influential in Sierra Leone, at best doing very little to stem organised-criminal activity and, in many cases, actively involved in it. Foreign criminal actors are also prominent, operating primarily in the environmental-crime markets. In terms of resilience, Sierra Leone performs relatively poorly, ranking 32nd in Africa, below the continental average. The country’s legislative framework on organised crime is weak, hampered by endemic corruption and underfunded institutions. Nevertheless, the civil society landscape in Sierra Leone is vibrant, with non-state actors often filling crucial gaps in the provision of public services.
For a better experience, please rotate your device.
The criminal markets score is represented by the pyramid base size and the criminal actors score is represented by the pyramid height, on a scale ranging from 1 to 10. The resilience score is represented by the panel height, which can be identified by the side of the panel.
