The Iron Ladies of Liberia

All of the progress that we’ve made can be attributed to the fact that we’ve got strong women leadership in the government, these are all strong women that have led the processes of change and renewal. With all the problems and all the scares, I remain optimistic that Liberia will rise again."

—Ellen Johnson Sirleaf

She sat down on her favourite rocking chair, looked around at all of us, and smiled. Ellen Johnson Sirleaf might be the first elected woman president of Africa, but her sincerity and frankness made the occasion seem less like a formal meeting with a head of state, and more like a grandmother summoning her grandchildren around her feet to talk at the end of the day.

It has been a long day for her – in fact, every day as the President of Liberia must be a long day. Since her inauguration in 2006, President Sirleaf and her administration has laboured tirelessly to prevent a post-conflict nation from returning to civil war. Between the endless meetings with various ministries and international organizations, where she fire-fights urgent concerns and strategizes on the long-term development of the country, President Sirleaf also rushes around the country to communicate with the general public face-to-face, to listen to their concerns and to deliver them the personal message that the government is doing all they can do get Liberia back on its feet. So much of the hopes and expectations of both the Liberian people and the international community rests on this one lady’s shoulders, that it is unimaginable what the country would be like without her.

Fighting alongside President Sirleaf are the other Iron Ladies of Liberia, who have been personally appointed to leadership positions by the President. The Ministry of Finance where I work is headed by Dr Antoinette Sayeh, a brilliant lady who has been instrumental in pulling the country out of its crippling debt situation. The Ministers of Justice, Gender, Commerce, Youth and Sports are other examples of powerful ladies who are helping to change the face of Liberia.

The Ministry of Finance interns with Dr Antoinette Sayeh, Minister of Finance

It has been an inspiration and privilege to witness the changes and progress these Iron Ladies have made. However, as I look around the streets on my way to work and see the numerous women struggling to make a living in the sun and in the rain day after day, and as I hear and read about their sufferings during the long years of war, I begin to realize the enormity of the challenges faced by the Sirleaf administration as it tries to reintegrate these women back into society.

Ellen Johnson Sirleaf gets up from her rocking chair and bids us farewell. For us, the day is over and we will return from the President’s house back to our apartments, chat about our meeting with her, and go off to bed. For President Sirleaf however, the night is still young. She walks off to her next meeting as if it were the beginning of a new day.

The MPA/IDs with Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, President of Liberia

In and Out of Monrovia

The first time I visited central Monrovia (where the Ministry of Finance is located), I was struck by the sheer number of people milling around in the streets. The piles of candy on hawkers’ trolleys, the women in patterned, traditional African clothing, and the numerous yellow cabs crawling alongside the pedestrians added splashes of colour to the chaotic scene. Incessant honking, loud pop music from stalls selling cassette tapes and the hustle and bustle of people going about their daily lives completed the atmosphere. There were visible signs of poverty everywhere – unemployed youths sitting on street corners, elderly women watching passer-bys with tired eyes, dilapidated buildings lining the streets, reflecting the years of war and neglect this country has been through.

A weekend trip to Robertsport (or Robert’s Port), a town in western Liberia in Grand Cape Mount County, showed me a completely different side of Liberia. Just 10 miles from the Sierra Leone border, the town has a population of just 1,500, where most people make their living from fishing. Stretches of empty beach dotted with lone fishing canoes provided picture-perfect scenery, and the luxurious waves there have drawn in adventurous surfers from near and far. Fishermen sporadically ran up the beach, showing us their catch of the day. After the intensity of Monrovia, Robertsport provided the silence and space for me to consolidate my thoughts on the Liberian experience thus far, and gave me the opportunity to take in the natural beauty the country offered.

During our stay, we paid a brief visit to the Superintendent of Cape Mount County, who is based in Robertsport. A Superintendent is an appointed official who acts as the governor of a county, and in the case of Cape Mount, the Superintendent is a kind-looking, well-educated Liberian lady, who welcomed us into her home and talked to us about her hopes and worries. Her utmost concerns are for the future of youths in Cape Mount and for their lack of opportunity to interact with and learn from the outside world. The conversation with the Superintendent transported my mind from the idyllic scenery of Robertsport back to the unemployed youths roaming the streets of Monrovia. Robertsport might have provided the perfect escape from the crowds and noise of Monrovia, but it certainly has not escaped the socio-economic problems that the rest of the country is grappling with.

Selling off the family silver

The chairperson looked around the table and asked for a vote from each representative from the various participating ministries. An overwhelming majority voted against. I breathed a sigh of relief - the Ministry of Finance had won the battle this time round, and the companies in question will not be granted the unreasonably high levels of tax exemptions they had asked for. We had spent some time at the Ministry analyzing these companies and had found little rationale for them to be given government support. None of them were planning on making large capital investments in the economy, nor were they taking on any risk to diversify into new economic activities. Simply put, these are profit-making companies that want to escape the obligation of paying taxes so they can make even more profit.

The creation of private sector employment opportunities constitutes the core of Liberia’s growth strategy, and it is important for the government to create a competitive business environment to attract foreign investment into the country. It is also the case, however, that the government needs a sustained source of revenue in order to improve the provision of basic services to the public. Whilst tax exemptions may help attract investment, which in turn generates higher incomes and broadens the economy’s tax base, they may also reduce government revenues, since they effectively act as subsidies to companies. The net effect of tax exemptions for a particular company would therefore depend on the macroeconomic benefits generated by the investment, measured against the revenues lost.

A similar balance needs to be struck when the government negotiates concession contracts with the private sector for natural resource extraction. Liberia is a land endowed with rich natural resources such as iron ore, diamonds and timber, and if managed well, these resources have the potential to spur economic growth in the country. In particular, mining and panning activities are expected to expand rapidly in the next couple of years, growing from near zero production in 2005-06 to more than $110 million in production in 2010, or to about 12 percent of GDP. However, it is sadly the case that in their urgent effort to attract foreign investment, developing countries often ‘sell off the family silver’, signing away their natural resources on highly unfavourable terms. The Liberian government is making big efforts to avoid this. In addition, it has recently started to focus more on the social responsibilities of concessionaries in their negotiations. By requiring companies to provide basic services such as health and sanitation, education, transportation, and social safety nets in the local communities where they operate, it is hoped that benefits from natural resources may be widely shared. This inclusive and equitable growth will be the key to sustained peace in Liberia, helping to avoid the atrocities that had so devastated the country in decades past.

"Yes, Minister"

I was feeling slightly nervous when the lift arrived at the 7^th floor. To the left was a wooden door with the unmistakeable sign ‘Deputy Minister for Revenue’ on top of it. This is the office in which I will be working for the next two months. I went inside. A couple of friendly faces smiled at me, and before I knew it, I was led through another door. Sitting behind the desk was an authoritative-looking Liberian lady with glasses and twinkly eyes whom I figured to be Deputy Minister Tamba. Within moments of talking with Minister Tamba, she had given me my first big assignment – to help project Liberia’s revenues for the next three years. Slightly overwhelmed and at a loss for words, all I could say was ‘Yes, Minister’.

When President Johnson’s government took office in January 2006, annual revenues were just over $80 million. In two years, the government had more than doubled that figure, with revenues for full-year 2007/08 projected at over $180 million. Given the growth in the economy and the rise in foreign investment, revenues are expected to further increase. It is hoped that by developing a more systematic way of projecting revenues, the Ministry of Finance will be better able to plan their resource allocation to the other ministries which are responsible for implementing key services such as the provision of basic health and education, infrastructure construction and repair, and the development of agricultural activities. It is also expected that the new system of revenues projection would help the Ministry of Finance model the impact of changes in tax policy on the different economic sectors in society. This would then allow the Ministry to devise a fairer and more efficient system of taxation.

I walked out of Deputy Minister Tamba’s office, took a deep breath, and set about gathering information for my task ahead. Something tells me my stay in Liberia will be a busy and interesting one.

Below: Billboards in Monrovia aiming to raise awareness of the importance of revenue collection

A quick walk through time

As I waited in Brussels for my connecting flight to Monrovia, the images of Liberia that I had seen in films and photos streamed through my mind. Some were images of the 14-year civil war that had gripped the country and decimated the economy – young men wielding guns, panicked citizens running on the streets, destroyed roads and homes. Other images were that of the new Liberia in peacetime – President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf and her Iron Ladies in the government, people going about their normal lives, the rebuilding of roads and schools.

The country’s economic performance reflected these contrasting images: between 1987 and 1995, Liberia’s GDP had fallen dramatically by 90% in what was one of the largest ever economic collapses recorded in the world. Following the inauguration of the new government in 2006, GDP growth jumped to 7.8 percent, and rose to 9.5 percent in 2007. This growth is expected to be sustained in 2008, reaching more than 10 percent in 2009 by IMF and government estimates.

However, it is all too easy to take this progress for granted. Once you think about the fact that a whole generation of Liberians have spent more time at war than at school, you begin to comprehend the complexities of the task of rebuilding the country. With hundreds of thousands of the young in Liberia unemployed, many with past experience as fighters, and with the deep social divides that continue to exist in Liberia, a combination of sustained growth and equitable distribution of wealth would be essential for the country’s economic and political stability.

Liberia’s past might have been a turbulent one, but if present efforts to sustain growth and development are successful, there is hope for future generations.