Country Overview:

Amassing expertise into all aspects of Liberia’s economy, politics and societal affairs, IOA has undertaken wide-spread research and consulting on the country. Our analysts have followed the country’s burdensome trade deficit, resulting from the importation of both raw materials and consumer goods into a country that has few natural resources and little manufacturing. An economy based on rubber and forestry, with mining still an underdeveloped sector, has not changed fundamentally in a century. Wide-spread poverty has resulted. The country has not advanced significantly since the end of a protracted and harsh civil war. Infrastructure is in tatters, and water and electricity are undependable in the capital, Monrovia.

Liberia survives through foreign aid and remittances sent to families from relatives working abroad. IOA consultants have noted how corruption in government hampers economic progress. With reform and a leadership rededicated to national development, natural resources can be equitably and sustainably managed to boost the economy, with forestry leading agriculture and value-added manufacturing.