"The commercial advertising industry in Sierra Leone is in a parlous state – unstructured, uncoordinated and unregulated. The shambolic nature of the industry stems from three major shortcomings – a lack of policy regulation, a limited market, and poor professional practices. Existing policy which exists only at the level of the Independent Media Commission (IMC) - the body tasked with regulating the media, public relations and advertising practices in accordance with the Independent Media Commission Act, 2020 – is limited to ethical considerations. Just one section (Section 4) of the Media Code of Practice is dedicated to the advertising industry. In the context of the advertising market itself, Sierra Leone has a modest economy with little competition, especially in the private sector. Brand advertising opportunities are few and far between and the government, which is among the leading advertisers in the country, is regarded as a bad debtor, particularly where paying fees to the media industry is concerned. Furthermore, rather than seeking to get value for money, government ministries, departments and agencies are widely suspected of using a system of political patronage and kickbacks when allocating and/or distributing advertising contracts to the media." (Executive summary)