AI regulation in Sierra Leone (2026)

Sierra Leone has not enacted any AI-specific statute. The Cyber Security and Crime Act, 2021 is the closest in-force technology law but addresses cybersecurity and cybercrime, not artificial intelligence governance.

In October 2025, MoCTI and the World Bank, via the Sierra Leone Digital Transformation Project, launched a National AI Readiness Assessment evaluating three pillars — Compute (infrastructure), Capacity (skills) and Context (policy and regulation) — to inform future policy.

Insights from the readiness assessment are explicitly intended to guide the development of Sierra Leone's forthcoming National AI Strategy; no finalized, in-force standalone AI strategy currently exists.

The DSTI/MoCTI National Innovation & Digital Strategy (2019–2029) frames AI as part of the country's digital-development agenda rather than as a governed domain with rules or oversight mechanisms.

Sierra Leone has no enacted data protection statute; a Data Protection and Right to Access Information Bill (aligned with the EU GDPR and AU Malabo Convention) completed national validation and awaits Cabinet and Parliament, leaving a gap in AI-related privacy safeguards.

Current government activity centers on training officials on AI, cybersecurity and emerging technologies (via MoCTI, DSTI and the National Cybersecurity Coordination Centre) and innovation events, rather than issuing binding AI rules or enforceable guidelines.