3 Fundamentals to Unlock Opportunities for Growth -World Bank CM Shares Perspectives at Partners’ Retreat 

MONROVIA – From time immemorial, Liberia’s fight against poverty and underdevelopment has proven evidently futile and there are suggestions to the effect that prayers to the Almighty would be the only solution. Not all experts think the way, perhaps prompting a retreat of national and international partners to brainstorm on a sane solution. Also present at the occasion was the Country Manager of the World Bank who thinks there is a need to focus on three fundamentals she believes could help unlock opportunities to surmount Liberia’s economic woes. The Analyst reports.  

Liberia facing increasing stark economic challenges being compounded by the United States President Donald Trump’s rowdy policies promoted an assembly of a horde of national and international partners in the form of what is called “Development Partners Retreat” meant to allow experts to share personal and institutional concepts and perspectives. 

One of the key speakers was World Bank Liberia Country Manager Georgia Wallen who registered the observation that traditional sources of financing for Liberia’s development are dominated by the public sector and official development finance, while a less traditional source is the private sector.

This left her to ask, “What will it take to better integrate public and private financing to meet Liberia’s development needs?  How can public financing be strategically deployed to unlock or catalyze financing?”  

Amid it all, there is the good news and that is that many of the ingredients are already in the ARREST Agenda for Inclusive Development (AAID). 

Wallen said ambitious policy actions can help unlock opportunities that would otherwise be out of reach and that this is not so much about finding a new solution, but about focusing on the fundamentals.   

“What are these fundamentals?  I’d like to highlight three,” she enumerated, beginning with ‘strengthening the core functioning of the public sector’”.  

The World Bank official noted that key elements have already been mentioned in earlier sessions — including continued strong commitment to macroeconomic stability; upholding the rule of law; and increasing accountability and transparency for good governance. These economy wide fundamentals are critical for encouraging private investment in key areas, including for example the energy sector, she said before move onto the second fundamental thing to do, which is to decisively work to improve the environment for doing business in Liberia.

She spoke of Liberia’s tremendous potential for entrepreneurship but noted that the country has the lowest level of new business generation in the world — two new businesses per 10,000 adults based on the most recently available data.

While this is a stark statistic, it also means that there is tremendous scope for improve improvement – even small actions could make a big difference, she added. “The economic transformation pillar of the AAID focuses on many of the core actions that are needed.”

The third fundamental, according to Madam Wallen, is to keep the people of Liberia at the center.

According to her, the most practical expression of how public and private finance come together for transformation is jobs, most of which can be created by the private sector.

She was quick to mention that enabling job creation depends heavily on public sector action, stressing the urgency of investing in education, skills, and human capital development – jobs for today, and jobs for tomorrow.  

“Actions taken today to invest in people through education and skills and to remove barriers to private investment will build strong foundations for a more prosperous future,” the World Bank official further noted, and summarized: “To get there, focus on the fundamentals– (1) strengthening public sector performance; (i) fostering a conducive environment for private investment; and (3) investing in the Liberian people for more and better jobs.”