Foreign Minister Dee-Maxwell Saah Kemayah has highlighted that the Government of Liberia, under the leadership of President George Manneh Weah has continued to make strides through its national development plan, the Pro-poor Agenda for Prosperity and Development (PAPD), which is geared towards growth and development and the attainment of the SDGs.
Representing President Weah, at the Summit convened on the margins of the 5th United Nations Conference on the Least Developed Countries (LDC5) held on Saturday, March 4, 2023 Doha, Qatar, Kemayah stated that the PAPD represents the shared resolve to continue to sustain peace, stability and democracy, and achieve prosperity, as well as address the structural impediments to economic growth and national development.
Minister Kemayah said that the PAPD, by extension, encapsulates the priority areas of the new Program of Action (PoA) for LDCs during the next decade.
The Dean of the Cabinet noted that the government of Liberia is investing in people; especially the physically challenged, children, youths, women and the elderly; building capacities to leave no one behind.
He also recounted that the government continues to commit resources in critical sectors such as health, education, agriculture, and infrastructure for more transformative results.
Cognizant that infrastructural development accelerates prosperity he intoned that the Government of Liberia, with support of partners, such as the World Bank and African Development Bank is continuing its road construction projects.
He recalled that when Weah assumed the Presidency in 2018, the total paved roads in the national road network was 745 Kilometers throughout the entire country, representing less than Five percent of the network which he said has been increased to 1,375 Kilometers, reflecting an additional 436 Kilometers paved in the primary road category alone.
Kemayah further disclosed that the Liberian government will continue to invest in the energy infrastructure, which serves as major boost for economic growth and development of Liberia.
“We have restored our Mount Coffee Hydro-Electric Dam; and under the framework of South-South and triangular Cooperation, co-initiated, the Côte d’Ivoire-Liberia-Sierra Leone-Guinea interconnection project, indicating that this project seeks to address electricity challenges by interconnecting the four post-conflict nations into the same regional electricity grid, thereby increasing electricity access from 22.9 percent in 2019 to about 30 percent in 2022,” the Minister added.
He told the Summit that his government has renewed its unwavering commitment to forging meaningful partnerships in addressing the many challenges faced by LDCs in general, and Liberia, in particular, to ensure that no one is left behind.
“We, as LDCs, have an opportunity to develop and strengthen cooperation frameworks, improve systems and tools; increase transparency; strengthen accountability; ensure increased level of good governance and promote democracy, prosperity and development,” he further intoned.
