UK-Liberia Chamber of Commerce holds Trade & Investment Dialogue

The UK-Liberia Chamber of Commerce in London is pleased with the outcome of its Round-table on UK-Liberia Trade & Investment Opportunities which was held on Thursday, September 2nd.

The Conference which began at 1.10PM GMT, had in attendance;

The Director of Global Business Network, British Chambers of Commerce, Anne-Marie Martin, stated that ”Liberia remains one of Africa’s most attractive and emerging markets for British Investments”.

The Executive Director of Stronghold Global Finance UK – Matthew Goddard, stated that ”investment inflows come from supply chains being in-place, Liberia needs to do more of exports than imports, whether in Agriculture, Fisheries or Scrap shipping, to facilitate more interests, and that is what Stronghold Global Finance is looking to follow, serving as a bridge for funding of infrastructure projects across the continent.

We are keen on funding projects in power generation, solar, waste to energy and other recycling projects from Liberia”, he concluded.

The Deputy Minister of Commerce and Industry of Liberia, John D. Wolo, Stated that ”post COVID-19, the Government of Liberia is actively seeking a range of investments in various sectors, including Agriculture, manufacturing, energy, and water. The ministry of commerce and industry is currently working to increase trade, and Liberia has a lot of advantages for investors seeking inward entry.

Furthermore, the ministry has secured land spaces to build industrial parks close to the sea-port, to strengthen manufacturers’ accessibility to the government that regulates their activities.

Towards attracting foreign direct investment, promoting and accelerating economic growth, the ministry of commerce along with its economic management team is working to utilize the free zone enacted in 2017 by President Geroge Weah.

Business registrations, issuance of licenses and permits will go in line with the SEZs”, He concluded.

The President of the Liberia Bank for Development and Investment, John. B.S Davies, from a private sector perspective, stated that ”critical finance incentives available for British companies to mitigate operational risks. 

As an attractive and important destination for investment, Liberia has nine actively operating commercial banks with no restrictions on how much foreign exchanges are generated and repatriated.

Trade and investment incentives are anchored on the accessibility of loans in Liberia, as there are no real protectionist measures, whether, on the basis of regional or geopolitical consideration, banks are open to providing finance. 

The banking system is worth 199 billion in Liberian dollars and 1.12 billion in US dollars. British banks, especially British development financial institutions, will need to strike importing partnerships with Liberian banks as they did in the past”, He concluded.

Executive Director, Intelligent Trade Africa & Advisory Board Member, UK-Liberia Chamber of Commerce, Elaine Alexander, stated that ”Iron ore and rubber, plays a dominant role in Liberia’s export base. Over the last 3 to 4 financial years in Liberia, gold and other precious metals have been great export earnings, rubber, oil palm, and cocoa as well, there are opportunities for the supply of logistics, whether they are large concession or small entities, whether import for tools and chemicals, whether it is the import of vehicles or earth moving equipment.

Businesses should come into the value chain or logistics and supply”, She concluded.

In the ongoing conversation about Climate Change, Hon. John B.S, sits on the climate steering committee of the country, he mentioned that ”Liberia has a carbon consultation group which is taking action to stop land degradation. We are having a Roundtable soon with all banking institutions, to inculcate climate adaptation and resilience. We may not be as sophisticated with our trajectory to curb emissions, but protecting our biodiversity is on our frontline”, He concluded.

Managing Director, Africa, Oxford Business Group, Karine Loehman, said; ”We unveiled a lot of opportunities Liberia has to offer but I also think that so much more needs to be described and unveiled.  

Liberia needs to attract attention, Liberia is likely to become a considerable force and needs to be one of the many countries attracting FDI.

Liberia represents opportunities for multinationals who seek export platforms”, She concluded.

The Managing Director of The UK-Liberia Chamber of Commerce, Henry Treku stated that; ‘The Chamber remains fully dedicated to strengthening bi-lateral integration of UK and Liberia based businesses, thereby improving the performance of trade and investments for the benefit of small, medium and large scale enterprises. He concluded by saying that, ‘ Liberia’s annual growth rate is forecasted to reach 3.3 percent by the end of 2021, trending around 3.6 percent in 2022 and 3.4 percent in 2023 and open for businesses and investments”.

In a statement to release to the media, the Director of Communication & External Relations UK-Liberia Chamber of Commerce, Wofai Samuel, mentioned that ‘Arcelor Mittal is the biggest British player and employs more than 5500 Liberians, they provide a lot of services and generate a lot of revenue after-tax from Liberia. She concluded by saying that, irrespective of our ranking in ease of doing business and availability of access to finance, there are a lot of opportunities currently existing in Liberia for European and UK businesses.

We invite the global community to trade and invest in Liberia, as much as we invite the rest of Africa to trade and invest in our country, in the end, the value gotten from Liberia speaks evidently to our call.https://thenewdawnliberia.com/liba-uk-liberia-chamber-of-commerce-brainstorm-on-trade-investments/