West African power deficit.
prob 0.47
severity 3.3 / 5 · revision 2026-05-07watch · 13 West African economies · power + industry$ shortage country get SLE > stress_index: 0.66 CRITICAL > 1 events · 1 scenarios > refreshed 2026-05-17
BRENT $91.25/b ▼ TTF €62.35/MWh ▲ OPEC_ORB $108.8/b ● SPR_US 304.8 Mb ▼ FAO_FFPI 130.3 ▼
The v3.2 stress index is a six-axis composite of energy and food exposure, geopolitical pressure, fiscal headroom, demography and supply concentration, normalised to a 0–1 scale.
Sierra Leone imports all of its fuel and depends on hydropower and diesel generation for an electricity grid that reaches only a minority of the population. Still recovering from civil war and the Ebola epidemic, it relies on mineral exports — diamonds, rutile, iron ore — and imports much of its rice.
Sierra Leone is water-rich, with high rainfall and abundant rivers.
| STOCK TYPE | RESERVE | DAYS COVER | STATUS |
|---|---|---|---|
| Oil · imported fuel stocksAll fuel is imported; stocks are thin in a low-income economy. | low | 15days | CRITICAL |
| Electricity · hydro and dieselPower reaches only a minority; hydropower output falls in the dry season. | fragile | — | CRITICAL |
| Grain · rice stocksSierra Leone imports a large share of its staple rice. | limited | 35days | WATCH |
$ curl -s https://api.shortage.life/v1/countries/SLE | jq '.stress' > 0.66