Liberian Observer

Business

Economy

Bankers Association Bids Farewell to Former VP

MONROVIA – The Liberian Bankers Association (LBA) on Friday, March 5, bade farewell to its former vice president, Morenike Adepoju.

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LBDI Reviews Lending to SMEs

MONROVIA – Amidst increasing demand for more bank loans to support development and growth of small and medium size enterprises (SMEs) in Liberia, the Liberian Bank for Development and Investment (LBDI), a major financier of SMEs in the country, has disclosed that it will soon return to its core objective of development financing.

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Making It Better, Easier and Faster to do Business in Liberia

Mr. Richard Tolbert is Co-Chair of the LBBF. He serves as the Chairman of the National Investment Commission (NIC) and Economic Advisor to the President, H. E. Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf. The NIC is the agency of the Government of Liberia responsible for investment promotion. Prior to his current role, Tolbert was a Senior Vice President at UBS/Paine Webber in New York, then Europe's largest commercial and investment bank for international business out of Africa.

Tolbert has also served as Vice President at Merrill Lynch, also in New York and a Vice President at the Mesurado Group of Companies in Liberia.

Mr. Tolbert holds a Bachelors degree in Economics from Harvard University and a Juris Doctor degree in Law from the Columbia University Law School.

He is also the Chairman of the Business Reform Committee and a champion for the passage of the Draft Investment Law.

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What’s Next for the Draft Investment Bill?

Now that the Legislature has returned from their agricultural break, the much talked about revised Draft Investment Code is once again on the radar screen. Over the last year, the Liberia Better Business Forum (LBBF), in collaboration with the Government of Liberia through the National Investment Commission (NIC) and the Ministry of State, has spearheaded extensive consultations on the draft with the private sector, Legislature, and academia. Through these consultations, consensus on the bill has been achieved, resulting in an endorsement by members of the Chamber of Commerce, LIBA, COLINBO and the Fula Business Association.

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‘Future for Job Creation Is Great’

MONROVIA – Labor Minister, Cllr. Tiawan S. Gongloe says the Government of Liberia has not only promoted fast movement of people and goods, but has also created jobs for thousands of Liberians through road rehabilitation and construction in Monrovia and other parts of the country.

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Liberia Nears HIPC Completion Point

MONROVIA – Finance Minister, Augustine K. Ngafuan, disclosed last Monday that Liberia is on the verge of reaching the completion point of the Heavily Indebted Poor Country (HIPC) initiative, which will qualify the country for loans.

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400 Charcoal Traders Speak on Prospects, Challenges & Profits

MONROVIA – More than 400 retail charcoal traders, mainly women, at greater Monrovia’s Soniewein-Rally Time Market have been commenting on the general and specific prospects, challenges, problems and profit margins in that informal sector of the Liberian economy to the Daily Observer’s Business and Economy column.

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US$4B Debt Relief on the Horizon for Liberia

MONROVIA – The visiting First Deputy Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), John Lipsky, at the conclusion of his visit to Liberia, has said that he has no doubt that Liberia will

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FIMCAB Officially Launched

MONROVIA A – A financial management and capacity building (FIMCAB) initiative funded by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and aimed at providing classroom training in financial management and Information Technology to individuals in both public and private sectors, has been officially launched.

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Businessman Calls for Banks to Increase Lending

MONROVIA – A local businessman has called on the Liberian government and other stakeholders in the Liberian business industry to design programs aimed at providing micro-finance assistance to small holder Liberian businesses.

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Markets

LPRC’s New MD Speaks Out

MONROVIA – The newly appointed Managing Director of Liberia Petroleum Refining Company (LPRC), T. Nelson William, II, says his administration will soon begin the rehabilitation and expansion of the product storage facilities on Bushrod Island.

Palm Oil Master Plan Talks Held Today

MONROVIA – A two-day workshop to link key oil palm industry stakeholders, encourage increased value chain participation for sustainable investment and draw a master plan for Liberia’s oil palm industry began at the Samuel Kanyon Doe Sports Complex in the morning, bringing together over 100 stakeholders.

MONROVIA – The Government of Liberia (GOL) on Friday, December 18, concluded an agreement with Lee Group of Enterprises, Inc. to manage 600,000 acres of rubber in Sinoe County, until a concession company can take over.

Commerce Dismisses Four for Alleged Corruption

MONROVIA – The Ministry of Commerce and Industry (MOCI) has dismissed four of its employees for collecting money from business houses to cover up expired goods and for registering non-Liberian business as a Liberian-owned.

CDA to Revamp Cocoa Industry

MONROVIA – In an effort to abate and reverse the continued decline in cocoa farming in the country, the Cooperative Development Agency (CDA)/Federation of Cooperative Society has begun revamping the cocoa industry by encouraging cocoa farming across the country.

MONROVIA – The Liberia Chainsaw and Timber Dealers Union (LICSATDUN) has petitioned the National Legislature, complaining of what it calls ‘an abrupt increment in taxation’ of pro

Investment

APM Terminal Wins US$120M Bid

The Government of Liberia, through the Inter-Ministerial Concession Committee (IMCC) for the Freeport of Monrovia, has declared a Dutch-based port giant, APM Terminal, the winner and highest ranked bi

ArcelorMittal Renews Commitment to Liberia

Global steel giant, ArcelorMittal, has renewed commitment to maintaining its investment in post-conflict Liberia. Speaking in Zwedru, Grand Gedeh County on a visit to Liberia to get first-hand information on his company’s operation in the country, ArcellorMittal’s chief financial officer, Aditya Mittal, said his company has “no plan to pull out of Liberia.”

He said ArcelorMittal considers the Liberian Government as a strong partner that is willing to address the plight of its country and improve the lives of its citizens.

Mr. Mittal’s visit to Liberia coincided with the Cabinet Meeting held in Zwedru, the provincial capital of Grand Gedeh County.

Mr. Mittal and other senior members of the board of directors of ArcelorMittal, met with President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf and other senior officials of Government including National Investment Commission (NIC) Chairman Dr. Richard V. Tolbert and assured them of “no pullback” plans by his company.

ArcelorMittal is investing over US$1.5 billion in Liberia’s iron ore industry, specifically in the Northern mining town of Yekepa, Nimba County.

The global iron ore giant last year laid off a number of its employees in Liberia as a result of the global financial crisis, creating fear that the company would scale down full operations in the country.

Logging Co. Promises 1,000 Jobs

SINOE – After signing social contracts with Sinoe and Grand Gedeh counties, the management of Geblo Logging Incorporated has promised to provide at least 1,000 job opportunities to Southeasterners.

‘Putu Mountain Mining Is Not Illegal’

MONROVIA – Amidst push back by Monrovia-based citizens of Grand Gedeh against ongoing prospecting in the Putu Mountains, Grand Gedeh County Superintendent Chris Bailey has labeled the criticisms as misleading.

Sime Darby Restores Guthrie’s Pride

After barely 25 days of operation in Liberia, Sime Darby has begun restoring pride to Guthrie, the country’s second largest rubber plantation.

In Anticipation of Log Shipments:

MONROVIA – When construction works are completed on the second station, which includes a sawmill, log yard and other work shops by Bargo and Bargo (B & B) Enterprise Incorporated in April, the sawmill will be the only one in Monsterrado County to be erected by a logging company, the chief executive officer of B & B told journalists early this week.

Boakai Launches Lofa Investment Corporation

VOINJAMA – The Vice President of Liberia, Joseph N. Boakai, has launched the Lofa Investment Corporation, aimed at bringing sustainable development to the county.

WESTERN LIBERIA – A Malaysia-based multinational entity, which signed an US$847 million concession agreement with the Government of Liberia (GOL) last April to cultivate oil palm and rubber in four counties, finally took over the Guthrie Rubber Plantation last Friday, January 1, 2010.

Saleeby Reminds LBDI of Founders’ Vision

MONROVIA – Former Liberian Bank for Development and Investment (LBDI) president, Elie Saleeby, has reminded the bank’s current management and members of the board of directors not to depart from the vision of the bank’s founders as a development bank.

MONROVIA – Efforts toward revitalizing and modernizing the operations and facilities of the National Port Authority (NPA) have gained momentum, with two reputable international port operators tendering bids for the reconstruction of the severely deteriorated 60-year-old general cargo pier.