Private-sector development in Liberia

Liberia has significant natural resources and entrepreneurial potential, but its private sector remains limited. Most companies are very small, often informal, and struggle to access financing, technical skills, and markets.

At the same time, many groups – especially young people, women, and people with disabilities – face major barriers to accessing decent and sustainable employment.

The agricultural and forestry value chains, while essential for the country’s economy, still lack structure and do not create enough quality jobs.

This private-sector development project supports dialogue between public authorities and economic actors to improve policies, regulations, and business services. This leads to several positive impacts:

• Strengthening of public-private consultation frameworks
• Improvement of Liberia’s attractiveness for responsible investment
• Facilitation of commercial links between Liberian and European companies.

Companies in the cassava, fishing, and timber value chains benefit from support for the following:

• Improvement of their technical and management skills
• Development of local transformation and added value
• Easier access to markets and financing
• Adoption of sustainable and environmentally friendly practices.

The project helps strengthen access to vocational training, employment, and entrepreneurship, in particular for the following:

• Young people looking for economic opportunities
• Women wishing to develop a business activity
• Persons with disabilities, by improving the accessibility of training, employment services, and workplaces.

Additionally, the project supports national institutions responsible for employment and decent work and promotes compliance with international labour standards.

Gender equality is mainstreamed into the project in a cross-cutting way, in order to reduce inequalities between women and men in access to economic opportunities, decent employment, and entrepreneurship.

Special attention is paid to women-led businesses, to strengthen their technical and managerial skills and improve their access to financing and markets.

The project also seeks to remove specific barriers faced by women in targeted value chains, promote their participation in public-private dialogue forums, and foster a more inclusive and equitable economic environment.