The article examines the processes of socio-economic and political development of Sierra Leone in the run-up to the 2018 presidential election. Opposition candidate Julius Maada Bio of the Sierra Leone People’s Party won a run-off election to become the country’s next president. He defeated Samura Kamara, the candidate of the ruling All People’s Congress party. The author analyzes key achievements and setbacks of the previous regime of Ernest Bai Koroma and problems that the new government will have to address.

The present article argues that it will not be easy for the new president: the country has not yet fully recovered from the civil war of 1991-2002, while the humanitarian and economic disasters brought about by the 2014 outbreak of Ebola and the decline in world prices for the country’s main export product - iron ore - have exacerbated the consequences of wartime destruction. Despite the abundance of natural resources, including diamonds, bauxites and gold, Sierra Leone remains one of the poorest countries in the world.

However, as the author points out, it would be wrong to say that the defeat of the candidate from the All People’s Congress party, which had ruled for 10 years, was due to the inability of the previous regime of Ernest Bai Koroma to solve social and economic problems effectively.

With regard to the victory of Julius Maada Bio, it can partly be explained by chance, in part - by the hope of the Sierra Leoneans to improve the quality of life under the new government, and also - by the mistakes of the government during the electoral campaign. It seems that the change of leadership will not lead to significant positive changes in the political and socio-economic spheres; at best one can hope for the preservation of the status quo.