Liberia Launches Ambitious US$3.4B Nat’l Development Plan today -Unprecedented 15 Counties Dev Agenda to be Unveiled in Buchanan

MONROVIA – With expectations running high in the country about how the Joseph Nyuma Boakai administration needs to fast track implementation of its ARREST campaign manifesto into tangible deliverables that will impact the lives of the citizenry, Liberians from the 15 political subdivisions will be converging on the port city of Buchanan in Grand Bassa County today where the government of Liberia will officially unveil its National Development Plan that spans for the next five years (2025-2029).

Making the disclosure yesterday Tuesday during a regular Ministry of Information press briefing, Finance and Development Planning Minister Augustine Kpehe Ngafuan said the government’s national development plan or the Arrest Agenda for Inclusive Development (AAID) is the successor agenda to the Weah administration’s development agenda, the PAPD, but with an added development flair that takes into consideration the development needs of the 15 counties.

“Tomorrow is going to be a big day for the country. We are going to be launching the national development plan for the country for the next five years. It is called the Arrest Agenda for Inclusive Development (AAID). It will span from 2025-2029.

“In 2013 or thereabout we launched our national vision 2030. We’ve had development plans. We started with the Agenda for Transformation (AfT), and then we went to the PAPD. This is the successor, the third that will take us to 2030.

“We’ve been on this process of putting together the new national development plan. It’s been long, tough, consultative, it’s gone all over the country, and we’re at the point where tomorrow where in the beautiful city of Buchanan, the country is converging on Buchanan for the launching of the plan. The president will launch the plan. Heads of branches of government will be there. Ambassadors will be there. Heads of development agencies will be there. Civil society organizations will be there. The press of course will be there.

“We are going to have superintendents, county stakeholders all in Buchanan. We are not only going to launch the national development plan for the whole country. We have not only crafted a national plan, but we have crafted 15 counties development agendas. Each county has its development agenda, crafted in consultation with the stakeholders. We went around and asked the people what are your priorities, what do you want. The stakeholders from the counties will be reading their development agenda.

“The new national development plan has six strategic pillars: economic transformation, infrastructural development, rule of law, governance and anti-corruption, environmental sustainability, and human capital development,” Minister Ngafuahn said.

Rationale for a development plan

In contextualizing the rationale for a national development plan, Minister Ngafuahn noted that it is understandable when the citizens view development in the spectrum of tangible deliverables and not policy instruments upon which development goals are undergirded.

“When we talk about plans, we don’t generate a lot of attention. All of these things seem to be high falutin concepts of economics. People see development sometimes when they see brick and mortar; when they see things tangibly coming up.

“Let’s assume someone wants to build a good house for their family. If you want to build a good house, you cannot just go and take the mason, the plumber, the carpenter and ask them to start to build. What would you do if you wanted a good house? You will find somebody who will put together a good plan. A good architect or a good draftsman will plan the house. You will see the house, and you will know how the house will be when it is completed. And you will know what you need to do in terms of cost. Sometimes they get almost exactly how much you need to spend on blocks and everything. You will know a lot of things, and you can adjust your plan. But a good plan leads to a good house. But sometimes, people in the community, when all the time you spent putting together a plan, they don’t feel that you’ve started to build a house. Because they haven’t seen you digging the foundation. But the building of a good house does not start with digging the foundation. The building of a good house starts with putting together a good plan for the house.

“The plan we’ve together is a plan for development grounding. We will be using the plan just as the mason will be using the plan; just as the carpenter will be using the plan; just as the plumber will be using the plan. There will be a plan as to where we go from here for five years. We will not just be drifting by the wind.

“All of our partners are looking up to the plan, because they too have their plan as to how they will assist us. We do not just allow them to come and just say this is what we’re going to do for Liberia in this area. No. We want their plan to align with our plan.

“We’ve been on this process of putting together the new national development plan. It’s been long, tough, consultative, it’s gone all over the country, and we’re at the point where tomorrow where in the beautiful city of Buchanan, the country is converging on Buchanan for the launching of the plan. The president will launch the plan. Heads of branches of government will be there. Ambassadors will be there. Heads of development agencies will be there. Civil society organizations will be there. The press of course will be there.

“We are going to have superintendents, county stakeholders all in Buchanan. We are not only going to launch the national development plan for the whole country. We have not only crafted a national plan, but we have crafted 15 counties development agendas. Each county has its development agenda, crafted in consultation with the stakeholders. We went around and asked the people what are your priorities, what do you want. The stakeholders from the counties will be reading their development agenda.

Supporting the Plan

According to the articulate Finance Minister who extemporaneously provided updates about his agency’s activities, implementation of deliverables for the National Development Plan and the County Development Agenda will be heavily supported by the government of Liberia, along with support from development partners, the private sector and other stakeholders.

“We as a government through our budget will be supporting the national development plan and the county development agenda, but we are also asking partners because there are two main ways things are supported, through the government budget or through partner support. We are going to be asking partners to support the national plan and the county development agenda. At least, conference stakeholders can have some document to say this is what they want.

“The new national development plan has six strategic pillars: economic transformation, infrastructural development, rule of law, governance and anti-corruption, environmental sustainability, and human capital development.

“The total cost for the plan is about US$8.38 billion for the five-year period. We are going to help to fund the plan through government resources, through partners’ support, private sector and other stakeholders,” Minister Ngafuahn said.

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