Published: September 29, 2025
WASHINGTON — Liberia’s finance minister outlined a five-year, $8.38 billion economic recovery blueprint on Saturday, aiming to move the country into the lower-middle-income bracket by 2029, expand electricity access to most households, and accelerate long-delayed road projects, while explicitly inviting the diaspora to help finance the push.
Presenting the “ARREST Agenda for Inclusive Development” at the Liberia Diaspora Annual Conference, Finance and Development Planning Minister Augustine Ngafuan said the plan builds on earlier national strategies but is more tightly costed, county-driven, and results-tracked, with six pillars: economic transformation, infrastructure, rule of law, governance and anti-corruption, environmental sustainability, and human capital.
“The grand goal is to transition Liberia from a low-income to a lower-middle-income country,” Ngafuan told attendees, adding that per-capita GDP is about $850 today and the government’s target is $1,050 by the end of the plan period. “We have to be realistic about where we met the country, but equally ambitious about where we are taking it.”
What’s new in the plan
Ngafuan said the agenda, launched in January, was shaped by national, sector, and county consultations and is aligned to the U.N. Sustainable Development Goals, the African Union’s Agenda 2063, and the African Continental Free Trade Area. In parallel, the government produced County Development Agendas for all 15 counties to reflect local priorities such as roads, agriculture, health, education, rule of law and sanitation.
Infrastructure absorbs the largest share of the $8.38 billion price tag, he said, followed by investments in human capital. An implementation ladder, from a presidential steering committee to monthly pillar working groups, will monitor delivery and publish progress reports.
Growth, revenue and prices
Liberia’s economy grew 4.8% last year, following a 4.6% increase in 2023, and the ministry projects 5.6% growth this year, Ngafuan said. He credited tighter revenue administration for a record $698 million in domestic receipts last fiscal year, “the highest amount of domestic revenue generated ever in Liberia’s history,” he said, adding that domestic resources now finance about 93% of the national budget.
Inflation has eased into single digits, hovering around the 8% range in recent months—helped by lower domestic food inflation as farm-to-market connections improve, the minister said. He also cited stabilized exchange-rate conditions, aided in part by higher remittance inflows in July and August.
“When partners recede on us, we don’t go into a corner and cry,” he said. “Our main strategy is expanding the economy and raising more at home.”
Roads, power and a 24-hour economy
Ngafuan framed roads and power as the plan’s two decisive enablers for private investment, jobs and lower prices.
- Roads: The government is pushing to complete an all-weather corridor from Monrovia to Harper in the southeast; advance the Gbarnga–Voinjama–Menakorla axis; revive the coastal highway from Buchanan through Sinoe to Maryland; and open the Monrovia–Bo Waterside route to match Sierra Leone’s paved approach to Liberia’s border. He said Japanese support will soon upgrade key Monrovia arteries and that ground has been broken for the country’s first major overpass at the Ministerial Complex corridor. Recent works include more than 140 km of primary roads constructed, 449 km of feeder roads rehabilitated in nine counties and nearly 19 km of urban roads upgraded, he said.
- Power: Access to electricity, about 33% of the population, should reach 75% within five years under Liberia’s Energy Compact with the African Development Bank and World Bank’s Mission 300 initiative. Near-term boosts include a 20-megawatt solar addition at Mount Coffee and a 23-megawatt private facility outside Monrovia. “Once the cost of power drops, businesses will be enabled,” Ngafuan said.
To reduce transaction friction, the central bank is launching a national payment switch to enable real-time payments and port fees, and to make mobile-money platforms interoperable, allowing customers on different networks to send money to each other. Pilot initiatives start this quarter, with broader phases planned for next year, he said.
Donor turbulence and opportunities
The Finance Minister acknowledged “turbulence” from external program pauses but said Liberia has kept the economy on course.
He said a U.S. Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC) team is in Monrovia for due diligence, with Liberia’s case expected to reach the MCC board in December. The last compact, worth $257 million, financed the rehabilitation of the Mount Coffee hydropower plant. Separately, the ministry is engaging the U.S. International Development Finance Corporation (DFC) and the World Bank’s International Finance Corporation (IFC) to expand low-cost finance and equity for Liberian and diaspora ventures, especially in agribusiness and SMEs.
Debt and fiscal realism
Liberia’s public-debt stock is about $2.6 billion, roughly split between $1.1 billion external and $1.3 billion domestic obligations, meaning domestic arrears exceed the current $880.7 million national budget, Ngafuan said. The government is executing a debt-resolution strategy to reduce the burden while prioritizing civil-service pay and growth-enhancing projects.
“Debt is not inherently bad, it depends on how you use it,” he said. “If a loan expands GDP, it can lower the debt-to-GDP ratio.”
Direct pitch to the diaspora
The minister repeatedly appealed to Liberians abroad to invest, not just remit. He said the government is structuring a “diaspora bond” concept with the central bank and partners, exploring a diaspora investment fund, and standardizing incentives, such as GST exemptions and import-duty relief, especially for agriculture, a preferred sector. A new National Tourism Authority is in place, visa-on-arrival fees for tourists have been cut by 50% through an MOU with immigration, and a national AfCFTA strategy is aligning domestic laws with continental trade protocols.
He urged would-be investors to “pool resources” for scale and consider business-process outsourcing to leverage Liberia’s English-speaking workforce and time-zone proximity to Europe.
County-level detail available
Ngafuan urged diaspora Liberians to review their County Development Agendas, from Grand Bassa to Lofa and Maryland, for a detailed understanding of “what people say they want and what government has committed to help them achieve.”
Despite a few on-stage technical glitches with his slides, the minister kept the room focused on outcomes.
“The ship has not wrecked; the plane has not crashed,” he said. “With deliberate actions and the right team, we are moving to destination, and we’re asking the diaspora to fly with us.”
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