Integrated Financial Management Information Systems (IFMIS) and Public Sector Financial Performance in Sierra Leone: An Assessment of Successes and Persistent Challenges

Abstract

Sierra Leone adopted an Integrated Financial Management Information System (IFMIS) in the mid-2000s as the digital centrepiece of its post-conflict public financial management (PFM) reform programme. Two decades on, the system processes the bulk of central government expenditure, yet audit reports, Public Expenditure and Financial Accountability (PEFA) assessments and International Monetary Fund (IMF) surveillance continue to record weaknesses in budget credibility, expenditure control and fiscal transparency. This article critically evaluates how IFMIS has influenced public sector financial performance in Sierra Leone, focusing on budget execution, digital government accounting and financial reporting efficiency. The study addresses a gap in the literature, which has documented IFMIS adoption across Sub-Saharan Africa but has paid limited analytical attention to small, aid-dependent, post-conflict states. Using a qualitative singlecountry case study design grounded in documentary analysis, the article triangulates evidence from PEFA assessments (2007 to 2021), Audit Service Sierra Leone annual reports, Ministry of Finance and Accountant General’s Department publications, IMF Article IV consultations, World Bank project documentation and peer-reviewed scholarship, interpreted through an integrated framework drawing on the Technology Acceptance Model, Diffusion of Innovation Theory, Institutional Theory, Agency Theory and Public Value Theory. The findings show genuine gains: automated commitment control, a functioning Treasury Single Account, faster production of annual financial statements, stronger audit trails and improved payroll integrity. Yet these gains are bounded by persistent constraints, including unreliable power and connectivity, high staff turnover, weak system integration, extra-budgetary practices that bypass controls, underfunded maintenance and fragile cybersecurity and business continuity arrangements. The article concludes that technology has outpaced the institutions meant to govern it, and that the next reform phase must privilege enforcement, integration and human capacity over new software. Twenty-five policy recommendations are advanced for government, development partners and oversight institutions.