05/09/2025
Please keep following: Royal TV Liberia please 🙏
Former Commerce Minister Amin Modad writes ✍️
I was pleased to learn on the Executive Mansion's page about today’s cabinet meeting where President Boakai refocused his cabinet deliberations on microeconomics and trade. When I was Minister of Commerce & Industry, I battled to underline the importance of trade in Liberia's socioeconomic development; I would joke that the 'T' in ARREST actually stood for Trade, and tourism, as defined by the global trade system, was a tradable service.
This is precisely the type of forward-thinking discourse our country requires right now. It is vital that we trade our resources in a way that goes beyond just exporting raw materials. and supports Liberian entrepreneurs along the value chain.
Liberia is confronted with significant economic issues as a result of the termination of USAID and shifts in US foreign policy due to our over-dependence on foreign assistance. I agree with President Boakai that over-dependence on aid undermines our potential to become self-sufficient and negotiate on our own terms even with potential investors; it unintentionally perpetuates a cycle of dependency. Thus, while these challenges will continue to have an impact on our relationships with other nations and the aid paradigm as we know it, they also present opportunities and force us to reconsider our own foreign policy and trade strategy. If we are strategic, Liberia can chart a new course—one driven not by aid, but by how we harness our comparative advantages.
Here are a few areas we must focus on:
1. Strengthening the rule of law. This entails revamping the judicial system to ensure independence, efficiency, and fairness.
2. Improving the investment climate and boosting private sector growth. Reducing bureaucratic bottlenecks & costs of doing business, as well as providing a more predictable business environment, are critical to fostering Liberian entrepreneurship and attracting Foreign Direct Investment (FDI).
3. Rethinking our Foreign Policy to reflect our needs and goals. We need to foster mutually advantageous relationships with countries and organizations, particularly regionally based on the principles of reciprocity. As the world becomes transactional, we must explore new relationships and leverage our resources calculatedly.
4. Supporting Liberian businesses to take the lead in not only traditional trade, but also in value addition, with the goal of fostering self-reliance and self-sufficiency. This entails improving access to financing and other incentives. Liberians must be strategically positioned at the forefront of the exploitation of our natural resources, (not limited to oil, gold, diamonds, heavy metals, and rubber) through mechanisms that ensure true sovereignty over our resources
5. Taking full advantage of regional trade prospects under the ECOWAS Trade Liberalization Scheme (ETLS) and the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) agreement, which would expand complementary markets and reduce our reliance on raw exports.
6. Focusing on Human Capital Development which is crucial to Liberia's long-term economic goals. The emphasis should shift away from just extending access to education and toward improving its quality and relevance to the needs of a modern, diverse economy.
“THINK LIBERIA, LOVE LIBERIA, and DEVELOP LIBERIA.”
