Senator Konneh Urges Radical Reforms to Attract International Investments to Liberia

MONROVIA — Gbarpolu County Senator Amara Konneh has called for a radical approach for the national government to open up trade and investment, urging it to stop demanding kickbacks from international investors and reduce the multiple security checkpoints. He believes these changes are crucial for making Liberia an attractive investment destination.

Senator Konneh made this call on Tuesday, August 6, 2024, during his statement at the Liberia 2024 Investment Conference, held from August 5-8, 2024, at the Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf Ministerial Complex in Congo Town. The conference, themed “Wings of Change: Leveraging Private Sector Investment to Spread Growth and Development,” aimed to attract and reassure investors about the prospects of investing in Liberia.

The Senate Public Accounts and Audits (PAC) Committee Chair emphasized that Liberia cannot be a country where the president and top government officials lobby for investors only to demand bribes once they arrive. He stressed the need for government officials to support investors without expecting kickbacks and to facilitate access to land for building factories.

Senator Konneh highlighted three key factors that determine a country’s growth: the ability to integrate with the global economy through trade and investment, maintaining sustainable government finances and sound money, and establishing an institutional environment where contracts can be enforced and property rights upheld.

“I would challenge anyone to identify a country that has done all three of these things and has not grown at a substantial rate,” Senator Konneh noted. He urged the government to maintain decent fiscal and monetary policies to make Liberia an attractive investment destination.

The senator also urged the Minister of Finance and Development Planning to focus on fiscal consolidation and the Central Bank of Liberia to concentrate on inflation and credibility. He called on the Minister of Commerce and Industry to prioritize trade liberalization and seamless commerce and emphasized the importance of the justice system ensuring the rule of law and contract enforcement.

Senator Konneh stressed the need to reduce the number of security checkpoints at various border points to facilitate international trade between Liberia and neighboring African countries, as well as other advanced countries like China and the United States. “We need to relax some of our trading rules and tell the police to cut down the checkpoints in the country,” he noted, highlighting that too many borders constrain trade.

He also lauded President Joseph Nyuma Boakai for planning to build technical and vocational training institutions in all 15 counties, which he believes will equip Liberians with the skills necessary to sustain investments in the country. He emphasized the importance of expanding the local market size to support trade and investment, noting that the division of labor and investment size is limited by the extent of the market.