Enlightening Liberia storyThis country profile was published in November 2011 in our annual 'Africa in 2012' issue. The next edition, 'Africa in 2013' will be on sale in November 2012.
After winning Liberia's crucial elections in October-November 2011, President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf faces the challenge of the slow withdrawal of peacekeepers and a newly hostile political environment.
Win some, lose others
For Liberians and international observers alike, this will be a test of the effectiveness of the post-war rebuilding strategy. But just in case of trouble, before the elections commenced, the UN Security Council voted to extend its 9,200-strong peacekeeping mission for another 12 months.
?President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf enjoys widespread popularity abroad, but this has at times hampered her at home. Her being awarded the Nobel Peace Prize on the eve of the election fuelled local critiques. Some opposition parties argued that her early financial support of accused war criminal Charles Taylor made her unfit for the prize. Both Johnson Sirleaf and her main opponent Winston Tubman are Harvard graduates and represent the old guard, whereas 70% of the population is under 30 years old.
?In the first round, Johnson Sirleaf, for the Unity Party (UP), won 44% of the vote, while Tubman, for the Congress for Democratic Change (CDC), won 33% and third-placed Prince Johnson took 12%. The UP, the largest party in the legislature, took only 24 out of 73 seats. The opposition threatened to boycott the second round of the polls on 8 November, citing vast fraud in the first round. National Elections Commission chairman James Fromayan resigned on 30 October, but the CDC continued to press its demands. Johnson Sirleaf then won more than 90% of the vote in the second round. As The Africa Report went to press, Tubman and his allies were trying to annul the election results, a move that was unlikely to succeed.?
ECONOMY: Foreign investment has begun to flow, although there is much to be done to allow benefits to trickle down to the impoverished majority
Although preoccupied with domestic matters, the government received thousands of refugees during the long political impasse in Côte d'Ivoire. According to the UN, Liberians who fought in previous wars were recruited to fight in Côte d'Ivoire, which raised concerns about the delicate effort to rehabilitate former fighters, as several weapons caches have been seized. ?
Liberia may have done remarkably well to attract some $16bn in foreign investment over the past five years, but the government has been criticised for not facilitating the flow of those funds to the majority who remain in poverty. And no less than 21 members of Johnson Sirleaf's administration have been sacked for corruption. Despite such controversy, Liberia has few options in seeking to break the cycle of dependency on foreign aid. The economy is set to continue on its path of growth, and inflation is forecast to fall from 8.8% in 2011 to 1.6% in 2012.
?Liberia's rubber industry has long been its economic engine, at times accounting for as much as 90% of official exports, but the economy is slowly diversifying. Singapore's Golden Agri Resources and Malaysia's Sime Darby are backing new oil palm plantations that will take a few years to develop.
?Chevron, Anadarko and Tullow have begun oil exploration but production may be a decade away. Exxon Mobil, Total and Petrobras are also said to be interested in the country's potential. ?
Exploiting iron ore mines will expand the export base. In late 2011, ArcelorMittal shipped the first iron ore from the country in 20 years, raising hopes that Liberia can regain some of the status it held when it was one of the top five iron ore producers in the 1970s. ArcelorMittal plans to ship 4m tn of iron ore annually. Several other mines, including ones run by BHP Billiton and China Union, are in various stages of development. Despite such investments, Liberia languished near the bottom of the World Bank's Doing Business rankings in 2011, at 155 out of 183 countries, down three spots from 2010.
Read the original article on Theafricareport.com : Country Profile 2012: LIBERIA [501818516] | The Africa Report.com
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