By Pewu Y. Sumo
WASHINGTON, D.C. — Liberia’s Minister of Finance and Development Planning, Augustine Kpehe Ngafuan, has urged international investors and diaspora members to “bet on Liberia.” Delivering a high-stakes address in Washington, D.C., Ngafuan pitched the nation’s economic potential on the back of historic financial milestones and sweeping economic reforms.
Speaking at the Liberian Diaspora Conference on September 26, 2026, Ngafuan outlined the country’s shift from post-conflict recovery to structural economic momentum, anchored by record revenue collections, expanding infrastructure, and digital financial modernization.
Ngafuan revealed to the audience Liberia’s recent revenue milestone, which saw annual domestic revenue collection surpass US1 billion for the first time in the nation’s history in mid-September 2026. The figure represents a significant increase from US612 million in 2023, US699 million in 2024, and US848 million in 2025.
“The billion-dollar threshold is not a finish line. It is proof of capacity—and a summons to greater responsibility,” Ngafuan stated, describing the achievement as a marker of growing “development sovereignty.”
The revenue surge reflects broader economic stability across the country, highlighting GDP growth, fiscal discipline, and monetary stability as key factors driving the economic transformation.
Ngafuan emphasized that improved payment discipline is rebuilding institutional trust, ensuring civil servants, contractors, and lawful debts are paid predictably on time.
The ARREST Agenda: Infrastructure and Local Value Addition
The Finance Minister detailed progress under the government’s ARREST Agenda for Inclusive Development (Agriculture, Roads, Rule of Law, Education, Sanitation and Health, and Tourism), framing the initiative as a vehicle to convert raw potential into processed local prosperity.
Ngafuan named regional road networks, cross-border trade, power grid expansion, and agro-industrialization as key infrastructure developments driving the Boakai administration on the economic front.
He stated that the country has created a 24-hour economy through the modernization of its payment architecture, making reference to the December 2025 launch of the Inclusive Instant Payment System—which logged over 1.5 million transactions in its first three months.
Ngafuan also highlighted efforts by the Central Bank of Liberia targeting March 2027 for the full deployment of a National Electronic Payment Switch to ensure full interoperability across banks, mobile wallets, and government platforms.
Speaking further, the Minister of Finance and Development Planning pointed to the updated 2026 Public Procurement and Concessions Act, designed to streamline Public-Private Partnerships (PPPs) and digital government procurement. Investors were reminded of Liberia’s dual-currency system (US Dollar and Liberian Dollar) and guaranteed rights to capital and profit repatriation.
A Call to the Diaspora: From Remittances to Production
Ngafuan called for a paradigm shift from traditional consumption-based remittances to direct equity investments in national enterprise as he directly addressed the Liberian diaspora.
“You carry Liberia in your hearts, support families at home, and remain indispensable to our national story,” Ngafuan said. “Patriotism is not a substitute for due diligence. We do not ask you to invest blindly because Liberia is home. We ask you to examine the opportunity seriously because Liberia is changing.”
He urged diaspora entrepreneurs and global institutional investors to target key growth sectors, including agribusiness, renewable energy, logistics, carbon markets, digital services, and housing.
Reflecting on Liberia’s election as a non-permanent member of the United Nations Security Council and more than two decades of sustained peace, Ngafuan concluded that the country’s risk profile has fundamentally changed: “A nation once defined in global headlines by conflict is now helping to deliberate on peace and security for the world. Liberia is no longer merely a country emerging from crisis. Liberia is a country advancing with purpose.”
