By Sidiki Fofana| Truth In Ink
Liberia stands at a fragile crossroads. While the Boakai administration celebrates a 4.8% GDP expansion in 2024 and narrowing fiscal deficits, two major reports, the World Bank’s Country Economic Memorandum (March 2025), and Afrobarometer’s 2024–2025 survey reveal a sobering contradiction.
More than 50% of Liberians still live in poverty, inflation rebounded to 13.1% in early 2025, and 64% of citizens say they do not trust the presidency. Despite government rhetoric of reform, public trust in institutions remains low, and economic gains are largely extractive, driven by iron ore and gold exports.
This growing consensus is now spoken not only in whispers across towns, but also shouted in protests in the streets, that Liberia is no longer one nation but two countries . Divided Not by geography, but by experience.
One Liberia is Rescue Liberia, the vision of President Joseph Nyuma Boakai’s administration, promoting a trajectory of national recovery and economic renewal. The other is Risky Liberia, where government overreach, rising discontent, and institutional distrust have become daily facts of life.
his duality is no longer just a ” political ” manufactured anger ” as the Deputy Press Secretary Hon. Joseph Valia could labeled opposition dissatisfaction, it is now data-backed, painted clearly by both the Afrobarometer 2024–2025 report and the World Bank’s March 2025 Country Economic Memorandum (CEM).
According to Afrobarometer, while 50% of Liberians say the country is on the right path, the other 50% say it’s going in the wrong direction.
Meanwhile, the World Bank makes it even more explicit: “More than 50% of Liberians live in poverty, with deficits in human capital, nutrition, rural infrastructure, and job access threatening long-term resilience., World Bank Country Economic Memorandum, March 2025
Nothing makes this divide between the two Liberias more visible and pronounced than this. In Rescue Liberia, the Boakai administration celebrated a 4.8% GDP expansion in 2024 as a victory for economic stewardship. But in Risky Liberia, that same expansion means increased vulnerability, driven by overreliance on mining exports and external debt.
A Nation Once Divided by War, Now Divided by Narrative
Liberia has faced division before. During the civil war, Greater Liberia, led by Charles Taylor, and Monrovia, governed by Dr. Amos Sawyer, functioned as rival states. But even in those days, no Liberian President was accused of inciting or tolerating an attack on the Capitol Building, as happened during a legislative standoff in early 2025, a fire that destroyed one wing of the legislature.
Even at the peak of war, the national symbol was not desecrated by internal sabotage allegedly linked to the Executive sponsorship of an impasse which eventually led to the ” arson”.
Today, that division is no longer between rebel and government, it’s between rhetoric and reality.
The Afrobarometer data shows that 64% of Liberians do not trust the presidency, while 63% fear retaliation if they report wrongdoing. Police corruption perception remains high at 64%, and trust in the legislature and judiciary hovers around 59% and 52% respectively.
These are not statistics manufactured by angry people, nor are they of national unity. They are indicators of deep institutional fractures, and uncertainties.
When Allies Become Adversaries
The cracks in the “Rescue” narrative are now visible among the very forces that helped build it. The Economic Freedom Fighters of Liberia (EFFL), a critical player in Boakai’s 2023 victory, has broken ranks. Emmanuel Gonquoi, the group’s Commander-In-Chief, minced no words: “The Boakai administration has squandered its two-year mandate and is failing to deliver for ordinary Liberians. We are coming for you.”
Even the motorcyclist unions, once aggressively mobilized by Unity Party operatives, now stage rolling protests: “You forced us to buy helmets, pay insurance, reduce passengers, and now deny us the very roads we helped build with our sweat? How do we feed our families?” Leader, Motorcyclist Association of Liberia
Still, Unity Party surrogates respond with a singular refrain: “Liberia comes first.” Build Liberia, Love Liberia has become a common theme But that phrase, once meant to unify, is now used to justify crackdowns and marginalization. Unity, in this context, has become uniformity enforced by exclusion.
The Metal Steel Divide: Investment or Exploitation?
Perhaps nowhere is the tale of the two Liberias more visible than in Nimba County, where President Boakai in April 2025 inaugurated ArcelorMittal’s US$1.2 billion ore concentration plant. At the event, the President declared:
“This is a milestone. Liberia is open for business. This is industrialization in action.”
But within days, the Nimba Legislative Caucus, lawmakers from the Vice President’s home county, issued a public letter of rejection, stating:
“This project was done without consulting us. It offers photo opportunities, not development. The people of Nimba deserve more than scraps from billion-dollar investments.”
Even Senator Nathaniel McGill joined in protest:
“You cannot spend $1.2 billion on operations and can’t spend at least $100 million on the people through the construction of decent housing and other facilities. To keep them in containers is not development; it’s exploitation and economic colonialism.”
Data vs. Declaration: A Nation in Contradiction
The World Bank’s 2025 report underscores the contradictions embedded in Liberia’s current direction:
- Extreme poverty, while down from its peak, still affects over half of the population.
- Inflation, which eased to 8.4% in late 2024, spiked again to 13.1% by February 2025, driven by rising food and healthcare costs.
- The fiscal deficit has narrowed (to 2.7% of GDP), but public debt remains high at 57%, and the current account deficit sits at a staggering 22.1% of GDP.
- Growth is not diversified: mining and primary exports account for over 70% of foreign earnings, making the economy dangerously dependent on external price shifts.
Two Competing Realities
Issue Area Rescue Liberia (Official Narrative) Risky Liberia (Public Reality)
National Direction 50% say “right path” – optimism in leadership 50% say “wrong path” – growing disillusionment
GDP Growth 4.8% in 2024 – a recovery signal Growth driven by mining; doesn’t benefit rural households
Trust in Presidency Celebrated abroad for leadership 64% of citizens say they do not trust the presidency
Poverty Level “Poverty is reducing” , officials boast Over 50% of Liberians still live in poverty – World Bank, 2025
Institutional Trust Focus on rule of law and good governance Police (64%) and judiciary (52%) viewed as corrupt
Inflation Eased in 2024 Surged to 13.1% by early 2025, especially on food and healthcare
Conclusion: Fiction, Fact, and the Fragility Between
Liberia today is not merely debating policy, it is navigating a crisis of parallel realities. In one Liberia, data is used to frame a triumph. In the other, data is a mirror to inequality, institutional decay, and elite impunity.
Until these two Liberia’s are reconciled, through inclusive governance, economic justice, and people-first reforms, Liberia is not being rescued. It is being rebranded. Because when fiction is policy, and poverty is the fact, the danger is no longer just political, it is existential.
