The European Union and Liberia are holding their first investment forum on Tuesday 24 and Wednesday 25 February in Brussels. Liberia, a coastal West African country located between Côte d’Ivoire and Sierra Leone, wants to open up its economy to European investment in order to develop its main sectors of activity: mining, agriculture, forestry, maritime transport, fishing and tourism.
Like other African countries (see EUROPE 13750/8), Liberia intends to break with the traditional model of official development assistance to become an attractive destination for foreign capital. The country also has a national development plan called the “ARREST Agenda for Inclusive Development 2025-2029”, supported by the European Union.
In an interview with Agence Europe on Tuesday, the Minister of Commerce and Industry, Magdalene Shelley-Dagoseh, spoke about this transformation, initiated by the Liberian President Joseph Boakai. (Interview by Bernard Denuit)
Agence Europe – What strategy is Liberia deploying to reassure and attract European investors?
Magdalene Shelley-Dagoseh – Liberia is a country that has been through a lot. But for the past decades, we have regained stability. We are stable right now and we look forward to having more investors. In fact, we want to seek partnerships.
So at the Ministry of Commerce right now, we are modernising our regulatory framework. We are strengthening investor protection and we want to see how we can protect them, whatever the type of business. We are also digitising business processes to eliminate delays and bottlenecks. The aim is to create an avenue where your process will not be delayed.
We are also improving the trade facilitation system. I have the honour of being the chair of the committee responsible for this issue. We are working to see how we can improve this system. We are also advancing on the national ‘single winner rule’ roadmap. It brings together several ministries: Foreign Affairs, Finance, Central Bank and Trade. As a result, investors no longer need to go from one government department to another: we have a one stop shop at a particular place where everybody can go and do their processing.
We are also streamlining licences and customs procedures, which are often heavy and make people tired. We are also strengthening the Commercial Court to expedite the dispute resolution. The court has a major role when it comes to disputes in terms of businesses.
Finally, we are building a special economic zones to enhance industrialisation.
Why is the European Union a key partner for Liberia?
The European Union has been our partner since the Lomé Convention of 1975. Since then, it has been very instrumental in bringing transformation to our country. As of late, the European Union refurbished our National Standards Authority (Liberia Standards Authority), which had broken down. With the support of international partners, there was this very big renovation. The President recently cut the ribbon for these new facilities in the presence of the European Union Ambassador to Liberia. The EU has always been a very close partner.
What are the most promising sectors for European investors?
The President has this five rule ‘roadmap’ focusing on several national priorities: education, sanitation, agriculture, tourism and health. These are the main areas for development. They correspond to the President’s agenda and these are the issues that we want the European Union to look into – it might not be able to look into all of them, but we invite it to look into these priorities.
Despite the progress made and the targets set, certain barriers to investment remain. How to overcome them?
We look at how we can remove these barriers – what it is we need to do, what we have not done, who can help us... One of the major barriers is the processing of documentation. So to do that, we are working along with the World Bank. And we look forward to seeing more partners in making sure that we digitalise all of the processes. When processes are digitalised, there are no delays, bottlenecks disappear, barriers are eliminated and everything can run smoothly.
How does Liberia intend to take advantage of its membership of ECOWAS and the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) to attract regional investment?
We feel so proud to be part of the African Continental Free Trade Area. It’s like a global organisation that everyone is seeking to be a part of. (...) Liberia is also a member of ECOWAS. We’re working to support SMEs, build their capacity and see how we can transform their activities to enable them to access the ECOWAS market, and then beyond, in line with the President’s vision.
So basically we are hoping to have more economic events and increase business opportunities.