This country profile was published in November 2008 in our annual 'Africa in 2009' issue. The next edition, 'Africa in 2010' will be on sale 23 November 2009.

Click on the drop-down menu above to see Liberia's Top Companies and Top Banks.

Africa’s only female head of state, President Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf applies a sophisticated approach to government, combining good public relations with a firm hand in managing Liberia’s damaged and dysfunctional administrative structures. While strongly backed by the international community with a UN peacekeeping force and managing to attract substantial investment, she is faced with tough dilemmas in attempting to root out corruption, especially among her close political allies and in the demoralised civil administration.


Recent revelations suggest that corruption has been afflicting the senior levels of government, notably in the management of the international shipping registry. Dealing with this provides a test for Johnson-Sirleaf’s battle against corruption, which is now supposed to be led by the recently-established Anti-Corruption Commission and supported in the mining sector by the government’s participation in the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative.


In September 2008, the president revealed that the justice ministry was working on 50 corruption cases, some of which involved officials from her government. Allegations have been made from all sides relating to the bidding for iron ore concessions, which are the most valuable attraction the country has to offer investors. As a result, the successful companies will be subject to a higher degree of scrutiny than they might have wished when they entered the race.


Another thrust of the administration has been the pursuit of thorough- going hearings by the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, which has brought before it many of the main political actors in the civil war that raged between 1990 and 2003. Some commentators warn that too much turning over of past causes of resentment could stir new animosities. There is also sensitivity about the effects of the trial in The Hague of former warlord Charles Taylor. At home, there have been visible attempts at reconciliation, especially between the Krahn ethnic group on the one side and the Gio and Mano on the other.


The international monitoring of government expenditure has produced endorsement of public expenditure management by the IMF and other donors, allowing for the approval of nearly $1bn in new funding from the IMF. The country was also nudging towards comprehensive debt forgiveness. In September, the US announced that it would be issuing further financial assistance.


There have been estimates of 9.4% and 9.5% for real GDP growth in 2007 and 2008, although annual average inflation has remained stubbornly above 10%. Exports are still low, at only $227m in 2007, but could yet rise substantially towards a projected $760m a year by 2010. Firestone has helped keep rubber as the leading export commodity and it has been replanting plantations at the rate of 5,000 acres per year, but will have to wait seven years for new trees to reach maturity. In the interim it has been cutting down old trees and producing hardwood.


A major step forward has been made in rehabilitating the ports, especially in the interests of facilitating exports such as rubber and iron ore. The initial contract for the redevelopment of the Buchanan port and railway was awarded to Brazil’s Odebrecht. A further benefit of the return to stability has been the revival of commercial agriculture, and at least two major rice farms have been launched with the aim of making the country self-sufficient in its staple food.