Brazzaville, Congo - The Liberian delegation attending the ongoing Annual Meetings of the African Development Bank (AfDB) Group led by Finance and Development Planning Minister Augustine Kpehe Ngafuan on Thursday held a high-level bilateral meeting with Dr. Abdul B. Kamara, Acting Vice President for Regional Development, Integration and Business Delivery at the AfDB, aimed at strengthening Liberia’s partnership with the Bank in advancing regional integration, accelerating critical infrastructure delivery in Liberia, and expanding cross-border trade initiatives within the Mano River Union sub-region.
During the discussions, Liberia’s Minister of Finance and Development Planning, Augustine Kpehe Ngafuan, expressed the Government of Liberia’s appreciation for the AfDB’s longstanding support to transformative regional and national development projects, including the Côte d’Ivoire–Liberia–Sierra Leone–Guinea (CLSG) Power Interconnection Project, the Zwedru–Fish Town–Harper Highway Project, and the Cavalla River Bridge linking Liberia and Côte d’Ivoire.
Minister Ngafuan also emphasized the importance of increasing Liberia’s representation within the AfDB workforce, which currently stands at 11 persons, describing it as very low. He encouraged the Bank to support efforts to improve Liberian representation.
The finance minister further informed the AfDB Acting Vice President that Liberia has recorded significant progress in improving the performance of its project portfolio. According to him, the country’s portfolio disbursement rate has increased from 43 percent to 51 percent, while the percentage of flagged projects has declined from 47 percent to 32 percent, reflecting ongoing efforts by the government to strengthen project implementation and delivery.
Minister Ngafuan also highlighted the AfDB-sponsored Youth Entrepreneurship Investment Bank (YEIB), an ambitious initiative intended to provide financing and business support to approximately 30,000 youth-led enterprises across the country. He stressed the importance of linking the YEIB initiative with the ongoing Special Agro-Industrial Processing Zone (SAPZ) Project in Buchanan, Grand Bassa County, also sponsored by the Bank, to create sustainable opportunities for youth employment, agribusiness development, and value addition.
Additionally, the Liberian Finance Minister underscored the urgency of the pavement of the Buchanan–Cestos Corridor Road Project as part of the Coastal Highway, describing it as a critical missing link in Liberia’s national transport network and an essential component for improving connectivity, trade, and economic growth across the southeastern region of the country.
For his part, Dr. Abdul B. Kamara acknowledged the concerns raised by Minister Ngafuan, particularly regarding Liberian representation at the AfDB.
He noted that besides positions allocated to countries within AfDB Constituencies, all positions within the management and the general workforce of the Bank are competitively hired. Notwithstanding, he informed the Liberian delegation that the Bank is currently reviewing the participation of citizens of member countries within its staff, encouraging and incentivising the increased representation of countries whose representation is low.
In the meantime, he encouraged qualified Liberians to closely monitor vacancies and professional opportunities advertised on the Bank’s official platforms.
The AfDB Acting Vice President praised Liberia for improvements in its disbursement rate and for reducing the number of flagged projects.
The African Development Bank (AfDB) currently has 17 projects in Liberia valued at 350 million US Dollars.