Boakai Demands Diaspora Delivery -Tells Alexandria conference: organize, invest

MONROVIA – President Joseph Nyuma Boakai, Sr. has handed Liberians abroad a test with a deadline. At the 2nd Annual Diaspora Conference in Alexandria, Virginia, he asked what last year’s nine recommendations achieved. He then set out five commitments, from organizing the global community to measuring delivery itself. Every recommendation, he said, needs a lead institution, a partner, a timeline and a result. The shift in tone matters. Remittances have long carried families at home, but the President now wants productive investment, skills and institutions. He also conceded that Government must make returning and investing practical. With revenue past the billion-dollar mark, the question is whether promises become roads, schools and jobs. THE ANALYST reports.

ALEXANDRIA, Virginia, USA – President Joseph Nyuma Boakai, Sr. has called on Liberians abroad to move from talk to tangible results, urging the global Liberian diaspora to turn patriotism into participation, participation into projects, and projects into measurable improvements in the lives of the Liberian people.

The President made the call on September 26, 2026, when he addressed the 2nd Annual Diaspora Conference in Alexandria, Virginia, under the theme “From Dialogue to Delivery: Mobilizing the Global Liberian Diaspora for National Transformation.”

Addressing members of the Liberian diaspora, Ambassador Emmett Dunn and members of the Conference Planning Committee, officials of Government, members of the National Legislature, international partners, and distinguished guests and friends of Liberia, Boakai brought “warm greetings from the Government and people of the Republic of Liberia.”

He described the event as “this very important gathering of Liberians from across the United States and around the world.”

From Resolutions to Responsibilities

Recalling last year’s conference, held under the theme “Building the Future Together: Reconciliation, National Healing, Growth and Prosperity,” Boakai said the gathering began an important conversation about Liberia’s relationship with its citizens abroad and how that relationship could produce concrete results for the country.

“I pledged then that you would not be treated as observers, but as full stakeholders in Liberia’s future. That commitment remains unchanged,” the President declared.

The Liberian diaspora, Boakai stressed, is more than a community living beyond the country’s borders; it is an integral part of the Liberian nation.

“I have described you as Liberia’s ’16th County’ and as the ‘Fifth Estate’ of the Republic—because your knowledge, skills, capital, networks, advocacy, and global experience can help shape our national development,” he stated.

But this year’s theme, the President noted, asks the diaspora to go further. “From Dialogue to Delivery means moving from resolutions to responsibilities; from intentions to implementation; and from annual conferences to year-round partnership,” he explained.

Boakai reminded the gathering that last year’s conference produced nine recommendations anchored in four areas: reconciliation, education, health and investment. “Today, we must ask: What have we achieved? What remains unfinished? And who is responsible for delivering the next result?” he posed.

Progress on Diaspora Engagement

The President told the conference that progress had been made. According to him, the Government has supported the establishment of the Legislative Diaspora Caucus, strengthened the Office of Diaspora Affairs through the National Budget, and advanced efforts toward a durable legal and institutional framework for diaspora engagement.

He added that the Government has continued discussions on greater diaspora participation in national life, consistent with the Constitution, laws, electoral systems and democratic safeguards.

The Government, Boakai said, is also working to better organize diaspora expertise, philanthropy, partnerships and investment around national priorities.

“The objective is not simply to ask Liberians abroad to give more. It is to create credible systems that allow you to contribute more effectively—and with confidence,” he emphasized.

The President observed that the diaspora has already demonstrated what the partnership can accomplish, noting that medical, humanitarian and educational missions have carried expertise and resources to communities across Liberia.

“These efforts show that service to Liberia does not depend only on where you live; it depends on what you are prepared to do,” he asserted.

Knowing the Global Liberian Community

Boakai said the conference had also highlighted an important reality. “We cannot effectively engage a global community that we do not adequately understand,” he cautioned.

He therefore welcomed the work undertaken to improve knowledge of the size, location, skills, institutions and development potential of Liberians abroad, including the Rapid Survey conducted through Liberia’s diplomatic missions.

That work, the President insisted, should continue. He called for a credible and regularly updated diaspora information system so that Liberia can connect skills to needs, investors to opportunities, institutions to partners, and its younger generations to the country of their heritage.

Government Accepts Its Responsibility

Partnership, Boakai stressed, must be reciprocal. “Government cannot ask you to invest, return, serve, or transfer your expertise without accepting its own responsibility to create the conditions in which those contributions can succeed,” he acknowledged.

He told the gathering that, through the ARREST Agenda for Inclusive Development, the Government is working to improve infrastructure, education, health, agriculture, governance, the rule of law, and the environment for business and investment. The President disclosed that the Government has strengthened domestic revenue mobilization and recently crossed the US$1 billion (L$182.36 billion) mark.

But the true value of that achievement, he argued, will not be measured by the number alone. “It will be measured by better roads, better schools, health services, jobs, opportunity, and improved livelihoods for our people,” Boakai said. “We must therefore match revenue with accountability, investment with integrity, and policy with implementation.”

The President warned that diaspora engagement cannot be sustained by appeals to patriotism alone. Government, he said, must help make returning home, investing at home, sharing expertise and building partnerships with Liberia practical, predictable and worthwhile.

Beyond Remittances to Investment

Boakai paid tribute to the long record of diaspora support. “For decades, Liberians abroad have supported families, paid school fees and medical bills, built homes, financed businesses, and responded to national emergencies. Liberia is grateful,” he stated. He cautioned, however, that the next stage of diaspora engagement must complement remittances with productive investment, skills transfer and institution building.

The President then issued a sector-by-sector appeal. He encouraged Liberian doctors abroad to partner with hospitals and medical schools, educators with schools and universities, engineers with infrastructure programs, technology professionals with the country’s digital transformation, entrepreneurs with Liberian businesses, and young people abroad with young people at home.

Boakai cited the Maryland–Liberia partnership as one example of the bridges the diaspora can help to build, connecting trade, education, agriculture, technology, infrastructure, workforce development and investment. “Its success, however, will not be measured by signatures. It will be measured by projects completed, businesses created, jobs generated, and lives improved,” he declared.

Five Commitments for the Diaspora

The President asked participants to leave the conference with five practical commitments. The first, he said, is to organize the global Liberian community, arguing that stronger coordination among diaspora organizations, professionals, businesses, youth, women and Liberia’s diplomatic missions will multiply the diaspora’s impact.

The second commitment is to connect skills to national needs. “Let us create practical pathways for Liberian professionals abroad to teach, mentor, advise, volunteer, and provide specialized service—even when they cannot relocate permanently,” Boakai urged.

Third, the President called on the diaspora to turn capital into productive investment. “We need credible projects, professional due diligence, transparent rules, and investment mechanisms that can create enterprises, infrastructure, and jobs,” he noted.

The fourth commitment, according to Boakai, is to invest in the next generation by connecting young Liberians abroad to Liberia through internships, mentorship, innovation, cultural exchange, service, and opportunities to visit and invest. “If we lose that generation, we lose an important part of our national future,” he warned.

The fifth commitment is to measure delivery. “Every major recommendation from this conference should have a lead institution, a partner, a timeline, and a measurable result,” the President insisted. “When we meet again, we should have an implementation scorecard showing what was promised, what was delivered, what was delayed, and why.”

Disagree Without Being Abusive

Boakai cautioned that none of these commitments will succeed if Liberians carry their divisions into every space where they gather. Liberians, he said, can disagree on politics, policies, personalities and priorities without allowing those disagreements to destroy their common purpose.

“I hope there will come [a time] when Liberians will disagree but not be abusive,” the President said. “Liberia needs a Diaspora that can debate vigorously and still work together; criticize constructively and still contribute; demand accountability and also accept responsibility.”

Turning to Liberia’s international standing, Boakai noted that as the country serves on the United Nations Security Council during the 2026–2027 term, the diaspora can also help strengthen its global role.

“You are bridges between Liberia and the societies in which you live,” he told the audience, adding that their universities, businesses, professional institutions, communities and networks can open doors for investment, knowledge, technology, education, tourism and development cooperation. “Diaspora diplomacy is not a substitute for the work of Government. It is a force multiplier for the work of the Republic,” he declared.

Organize, Invest, Serve, Connect, Deliver

“From Dialogue to Delivery” must become more than the theme of the conference, the President said; it must become a standard by which Liberians measure themselves. “We have talked. We have listened. We have consulted. Now we must organize, invest, serve, connect, and deliver,” he declared.

Boakai extended a welcome to every category of Liberian abroad. “To those who can return permanently, we welcome you. To those who can return for a season of service, we welcome you. And to those who cannot return now but can contribute from where they are, your contribution is equally part of our national effort,” he said.

“Liberia needs your skills, your knowledge, your capital, your networks, your experience, your ideas—and, above all, your continuing belief in what our country can become,” the President stressed.

“Liberia will no longer move backwards.”

Boakai urged the diaspora to turn patriotism into participation, participation into projects, and projects into measurable improvements in the lives of the people.

“Let us put our resources behind our convictions and demonstrate our commitment through action. In all that we do, let us always think Liberia, love Liberia, and together build Liberia,” he said, before closing with a prayer:

“May God bless all Liberians at home and abroad. May God bless us and save our Republic.”