On the eve of the Annual Meetings taking place in Washington DC, the Government of Liberia has received another big push in development financing from the Bretton Woods Institutions.
On Oct. 14, Finance and Development Planning Minister signed for the government of Liberia, while the director for Liberia, Ghana and Sierra Leone, Mr. Pierre Laporte signed for the World Bank.
The development financing is supportive of the achievements of the Pro-Poor Agenda for Prosperity and Development (PAPD), the Country’s national development plan. Of the World Bank’s Third Inclusive Growth Development Policy Operation to Liberia, 52, 30, and 18 percent will go toward budget support, additional finance to the health sector and additional finance to the Fishery sector respectively.
According to the release, resources allotted to budget support will help remove some of the distortions in selected sectors by strengthening public sector transparency and promoting economic and inclusive growth. Like other Sub-Saharan countries, Liberia too is facing the backlashes of the global shocks.
Developed and developing countries continue to suffer from the vestiges of the COVID-19 pandemic, the war in Ukraine and the recent OPEC+ decision to reduce the production of oil by 2 million barrels per day.
The effects of these shocks have led to increase in prices of fuel, rice, fertilizers, and other demand driven commodities. Responses by African Governments through subsidies have only had temporal and not sustainable effects. The effective utilization of the World Bank budget support as expected will address some of these economic blockades amid rising inflation and supply chain hurdles.
Support to the health sector will focus on improving health service delivery to women, children, and adolescents. Under the framework of Institutional Foundations to Improve Services for Health Projects (IFISH), it is expected that the project will build upon ongoing quality improvement and resilience building activities. The project is both a credit from the International Development Assistance (IDA) and a grant from the Global Financing Facility (GFF).
The $20 million funding to the Fishery sector which comes from the OPEC Fund for International Development (OFID) is geared towards supporting the sustainable management of the Fisheries sector in the Country while enhancing the livelihood and income of the project beneficiaries. The project will focus on improving management and governance of fisheries, improving value addition to fish and fish products as well as support to aquaculture development management
Tweah, on behalf of President Weah, thanked the World Bank for its continuous engagements and support to Liberia national development priorities. He pointed out that the government of Liberia through the leadership of President George Weah was making significant strides in addressing some of the country’s development bottlenecks.
There is still a need for more support in terms of training, capacity building and providing equipment for hospitals, schools, and other infrastructure, especially in rural Liberia. “Our impending challenge will be to mobilize additional compensation for health workers including nurses and midwives newly constructed and hospitals under construction in Rivercess, Maryland, Gbarpolu and other counties” Tweah noted.
Tweah was accompanied by Ministers Jeanie Cooper, Ansu Sonii, and Piso Sayde-Tarr. The Director of the National Fisheries and the Deputy Ministers for Economic Management and Budget and Development Planning at the Ministry of Finance and Development Planning, ugustus Flomo and Tanneh Bronson witnessed the occasion. World Bank Country Director to Liberia, Khwima Nthara facilitated the meeting.