GoL provide virtual training on National Transfer Account Concepts and Generational Economy

Assistant Minister for Development Planning, Hon. Benedict Kolubah chair the opening session of the National Transfer Account Training.

Monrovia, Liberia - The Government of Liberia through the Ministry of Finance and Development Planning and the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa West Africa Regional Office ECA/SRO-WA on Tuesday, October 6, 2020, commenced a three-day virtual capacity building workshop for Senior Government Personnel.

The workshop is being held at the Boulevard Palace Hotel in Sinkor, with full concentration to develop the National Transfer Accounts (NTA) Profile on Liberia and build the capacity of officials on demographic dynamics that influence public policy.

The main objective of the training is to produce data and knowledge on demographic dividend in Liberia and to capacitate national experts with tools and knowledge to a mainstream demographic dividend in national development policies and plans

The National Transfer Accounts (NTA) is aimed at strengthening the capacities of government staff to undertake activities that would support member states including Liberia to integrate demographic dividend tools in development policy formulation and implementation.

The Assistant Minister for Development Planning, Hon. Benedict Kolubah who represented the Deputy Minister for Budget and Development Planning chaired the opening session and conveyed greetings on behalf of the Government to United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA) Sub-regional Office for West Africa (UNECA) for selecting Liberia to host such vital Inception meeting.

“Today marks the beginning for a new day for our Country and this program is a roadmap for the enhancement of the national demographic dividend determination for our country and setting the profile comes at a time when Liberia is in its preparatory stages for conducting a national census.” He added.

He assured the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA) Sub-regional Office for West Africa (UNECA) members that Liberia is prepared to be trained to participate as well as make sure that “we cannot be the only country in the region without an NTA Profile.”

For his part, Hon. Barthelemy Biao, who represented UNECA virtually from Niger, believed that with a population of 391 million inhabitants in West Africa in 2019, there is a need to invest in the demographic transition with urgency. “Capturing the demographic dividend in West Africa is essential for improving the living conditions of our populations through sustainable development and the structural transformation of our economies,” he said.

Liberia is now the only country in the region that does not have the NTA demographic profile and as such, the training is intended to build the capacity of Liberians that will help the government develop the NTAL profile on Liberia.
According to him, the program has a window of economic growth if accompanied by appropriate government policies including investment in health and education, among others.

He emphasized the need for staff to familiarize themselves with the handbook for measuring the generational economy published in 2013 by the United Nations, citing its importance in the Sub-regional Office’s vision of investing in approaches aligned with demographic economics, adding that the ECA will do everything possible to institutionalize the NTA approach and support countries to follow suit. 

Mr. Biao believed demographic dividends are economic benefits that arise from changes in population age structure and from other demographic forces, enhancing opportunities for economic development.

The three-day virtual training brought together senior personnel from key government institutions comprising the Ministries of Education, Agriculture, Liberia Institute of Statistic and Geo-Information Services (LISGIS) Ministry of Justice, Labor, University of Liberia, Health as well as the Ministry of Finance and Development Planning (MFDP).