By Bill W. Cooper
The Inquirer Newspaper has gathered that prominent Liberian economist and senior official at the International Monetary Fund (IMF), Antoinette Sayeh is poise to return as Finance Minister.
According to sources close to the Presidency, Sayeh is being tipped by President Joseph Boakai to replace Boima Kamara due to her performances during the administration of former President Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf coupled with ensuring accountability and transparency in government.
Other names that are also parading the corridor for possible pick are former Finance Minister and current African Development Bank Country Manager, Augustine Ngafuan, and the current Baker Tilly Board Chairperson, George Fonderson.
Others include former Auditor General, John Sembe Morlu, President Boakai’s current senior Economic Advisor, Molley Kamara, and the Liberia Bank for Development & Investment former president and current Managing Director and Corporate Secretary of the Board of Directors of Fouta Cement Corporation, John B.S. Davies.
However, if the dice favors Sayeh, she is also expected to resign her position as IMF’s Deputy Managing Director, though service ends on September 24, 2024; a move our source said is intended to enable her assume the new role in Liberia.
The IMF’s Managing Director, Kristalina Georgieva, in a release issued July 17, 2024, announced that the Deputy Managing Director Sayeh made known her intent to conclude her service on September 12, 2024.
Ms. Georgieva said, “Antoinette has been a pillar of the Fund’s leadership team for many years. Her incredible experience, deep integrity, and wise judgment have been invaluable to us, and her unwavering commitment to our institution has been truly exemplary.”
“Antoinette represents the best of a life devoted to public service: genuine care for the well-being of the people we serve and her ability to place them front and center of our work. This care and concern also extended to the staff of the Fund; for whom she has been a mentor, advisor, and coach to many,” the IMF boss asserted.
She added, “Antoinette demonstrates that rare combination of institutional leadership, deep analytical capacity, unparalleled ethical standards, and sound judgment and she will be greatly missed. The process is underway to identify a candidate to succeed Ms. Sayeh as IMF’s Deputy Managing Director, and further announcements will follow in due course.”
Meanwhile, Madam Sayeh’s appointment, if confirmed would come at a critical time for Liberia, as the country continues to grapple with economic challenges exacerbated by the devastation of COVID-19 pandemic globally.
With her extensive experience in international finance and economic policy, Sayeh is however seen as a strong choice to lead Liberia’s efforts to stabilize its economy and promote sustainable growth, evidently to her time as Finance Minister during the administration of former President Johnson-Sirleaf.
It can be recalled that prior to his election victory, President Boakai made known his desire to revive the country’s economy which he believed was ‘damaged’ by the presidency of his predecessor, George Weah.
In his speech in January, Boakai also pledged to reduce hardships and alleviate the sufferings of the masses under the mantra of his party’s “Rescue Mission,” a phrase that resonated with voters during his campaign activities as well as ensure of a transparent and accountable good governance that were often lacking in the Weah administration.
But Madam Sayeh, if nominated would also be taking on a huge responsibility, overseeing an economy both the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) Projects could see a 4.8% rise this year, driven by expansion in mining, services, and agriculture.
With much of Liberia’s problems in recent years based on issues relating to rocketing exchange rates, high prices of basic commodities, the risks from climate change, according to the World Bank could undercut the economy and push more Liberians into poverty.
While the Boakai-led administration has outlined its vision for Liberia’s development through its ARREST agenda, the first six months have been dominated by the quest to fill hotly-contested job opportunities and the ongoing struggles to complete the budget process.
President Boakai is running out of time to show the donor community and electorates that his government is up to the task of fixing the economy and turning Liberia’s economic misfortunes around.
The burden will however rest on the shoulders of whoever is to be nominated by the President to lead the country’s Economic Management Team; a decision that will likely make or break the Unity Party’s second shot at state power as well as ruin or maintain the legacy of Boakai.
Ms. Antoinette Sayeh, a Liberian national, has been a critical member of the IMF’s senior management team since March 2020. During her tenure, she oversaw vital areas of the IMF’s operations, policies, and corporate priorities, drawing on her deep knowledge of the institution.
She is most known for her tireless advocacy for low-income and fragile and conflict-affected members of the IMF, as she also served as Director of the African Department from 2008 to 2016, becoming the first woman to lead an IMF regional department.
In that role, she brought a deep understanding of the challenges facing the region and led a major transformation of the institution’s relationship with its member countries in sub-Saharan Africa.
She contributed to key reforms of IMF policies on concessional financing, debt, and capacity development, and she was also a strong advocate for changes that enabled the IMF to provide emergency financing and debt relief to the three African countries hit by the Ebola crisis in 2014.
Before taking up the post of IMF Deputy Managing Director, Ms. Sayeh was a Distinguished Visiting Fellow at the Center for Global Development from 2016 to 2020 and served as the external Co-Chair for the 19th Replenishment of the World Bank Group’s International Development Association.
As Minister of Finance in post-conflict Liberia from January 2006 through June 2008, Ms. Sayeh led the country through the clearance of its long-standing multilateral debt arrears and the HIPC Decision Point.
Before joining former President Johnson Sirleaf’s cabinet, she worked for the World Bank Group for 17 years, holding various senior positions. Prior to that, she also worked in Liberia’s Ministries of Finance and Planning.
