Throughout much of its history, Liberia has struggled to lift itself from the depths of poverty and degradation it had sunk into due to more than a century of mismanagement compounded by 14 years of civil war.
The country is rich in natural resources which include iron ore, diamonds, gold, fertile soil, fishery, and forestry. However, despite its abundant natural wealth and favourable geographic location, the economic potential of these assets remains largely untapped and the country is among the world’s poorest countries.
One of the hardest-hit countries by Ebola, Liberia was still recovering from the health crisis that took thousands of lives and devastated the economy when the COVID-19 pandemic started.
In 2016, more than 2.2 million Liberians were unable to meet their basic food needs, of which almost 1.5 million (68%) resided in rural areas, 1.6 million were below the food-poverty line, and over 51% of the population was living in extreme poverty.
So when Nine months into his presidency on October 27, 2018, President George Weah President and his cabinet launched the Pro-Poor Agenda for Prosperity and Development, (PAPD) optimism swelled about a well-defined set of policies to address the plight of the intrinsically poor population.
According to the president, the Pro-Poor Agenda which runs from 2018-2023, would be a framework for inclusion, more equitable distribution of the national wealth, and a rights-based approach to national development and is aligned with the African Union Agenda 2063 and the global Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) as well as the vision of ECOWAS.
The Pro-Poor Agenda is about the people, how to strengthen their capacity to thrive; and how to draw all Liberians living at home and abroad into the national development process.
The focus of the Agenda is to remove all the barriers to reaching the goals of addressing the basic needs of Liberians for income security, better access to basic services, greater opportunities for self-improvement in an enabling environment that is inclusive and stable and raising per capita income levels and economic status to a middle-income country.
The Agenda is built around four pillars:
1. Power to the People— To empower Liberians with the tools to gain control of their lives through equitable provision of opportunities in education, health, youth development, and social protection.
2. The Economy and Jobs— Economic stability and job creation through effective resource mobilization and prudent management of economic inclusion.
3. Sustaining the Peace—Promoting a cohesive society for sustainable development.
4. Governance and Transparency—An inclusive and accountable public sector for shared prosperity and sustainable development.
Within one year of its launch, the government was compelled to revise and recalibrate the ambition of the PAPD due to the macroeconomic shocks that began in 2018 which gravely affected the PAPD, and followed by the COVID-19 pandemic which affected international trade and brought leading economies to their knees.
Despite these revisions, President Weah maintains that the PAPD remains on course and has been able to achieve a lot, while still dealing with numerous challenges. He says his Government has made tremendous efforts to meet the expectations of the Liberian people through massive investment in road infrastructure, the expansion of the electricity network in both rural and urban areas, and investment in health and education.
On health, he noted his government has provided new health facilities and addressed challenges to the quality of care. On education, he disclosed that his government is building nearly 100 new schools and have taken steps to bring more Liberians into higher education by abolishing the payment of tuition fees at public colleges and universities.
But five years into President Weah’s presidency, the desired results have been uneven as developmental partners including the IMF in its Staff Country Reports Volume 2021 noted that widespread poverty and inequality undermine the country’s most valued asset, preventing people from achieving their potential.
The achievements outlined by President Weah are also in contradiction with NAYMOTE’s President Meter Project report released in January 2022. In the report which covers January 2018-January 2022, NAYMOTE noted that after exactly four years in power, the Weah-led administration is yet to deliver on the majority of the promises it made to get elected and those made after being elected. Based on available records, only 11 of the 169 promises were completed.
President George Weah has refused to accept criticism of how his administration has handled the country, saying that he has done remarkably well. And with the 2023 Presidential and legislative elections on the horizon, the Liberian leader has used the occasion of the seventeenth anniversary of his political party, the Congress for Democratic Change on June 18, to argue that he has kept his word despite the reports.
Amid a cheering crowd of supporters, President Weah trumpeted; “Wherever you are, I want you to know that we are doing great. We are developing. It tells you that the Pro-poor Agenda is working. I want you to know that the Liberian people are resolved to give us a chance to complete our work. This is the journey that we started in 2018 and we will finish it in 2030.”
Liberia is a nation fighting tooth and nail to rebuild itself the Liberian people have still much to desire. To make some gains on its manifesto and other promises, the government must reduce the high recurrent cost of running the government to save more resources for social services and capital projects, and develop a comprehensive monitoring and evaluation system to track and report on progress and challenges in implementing promises in the Pro-Poor Agenda for Prosperity and Development.
