Allowing Data to Speak: Is Liberia Better Off Today?”

By Dr. Clarence R. Pearson, Sr., PhD

Truth be told, there are a lot of Liberians like me who think that the President is the reflection of his advisors, as his or her cabinet members are a reflection of the President. Simply put bad advisors might yield a bad President, and a bad President might yield a bad cabinet.

 That’s why it is very important who advises the President, and how the President influences his cabinet. Making data usable in planning, policy formulation, and decision making is pivotal to evidence-based leadership. This is where a leader with proven executive leadership skills comes in as Liberia’s best alternative to a brighter future.

Liberias can decide to move towards someone who understands evidence-based leadership as a proven method of leadership success. To deny this fact is to continuously seek empty promises and end up with failed expectations. Having said that, to answer the question of this commentary, let’s review three recent international reports on Liberia: Global Peace Index (GPI), U.S. Country Report, and the Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC) scorecard on Liberia.

Short answer: On the evidence, Liberia’s overall position is mixed: peacefulness in 2025 nudged back toward its 2023 level after a 2024 dip, but key governance and economic-freedom signals on the MCC scorecard slipped, and the President himself acknowledged stubbornly high consumer prices. Net-net, ordinary Liberians are not feeling “better off” today.

What the Global Peace Index shows (2023–2025 snapshot)

• 2025: Liberia ranked 70th with an overall score 1.939 (lower is more peaceful), showing slight improving from 2024.
• 2024: Liberia ranked 69th, score 2.025, a slight deterioration from 2023.
• 2023: Liberia ranked 70th, score 1.946, which also was a slight improving from 2022.

Takeaway: Peacefulness is broadly flat over three years (2023≈2025), with a dip in 2024 then recovery in 2025. That’s encouraging for stability—but it hasn’t translated into lower prices or stronger lived welfare.

Prices and the President’s 178th Independence Day admission

At the 178th Independence observance, President Joseph N. Boakai acknowledged the contradiction of fallen import costs but persistently high market prices, and created a High-Level Presidential Ad Hoc Committee chaired by Vice President Jeremiah K. Koung to investigate and report in 45 days.

Economic reading: When import costs ease but retail prices don’t, common culprits include weak competition/price-gouging, slow pass-through, high transport and port handling costs, exchange-rate risks, and governance/market-oversight gaps. The committee’s mandate is therefore directionally right; execution is what matters.

MCC scorecards (governance & economic-freedom signals)

• FY2023: Liberia passed 12/20 indicators—meeting the minimum and passing at least one in each category.
• FY2024: Liberia passed 14/20 indicators—its best of the three years; Control of Corruption and both Democratic Rights indicators passed.
• FY2025: Liberia passed 11/20 indicators—down from 14 the prior year, yet still “passed the scorecard” overall and remained compact-eligible. Notable weaknesses reported include Fiscal Policy, Inflation, Trade Policy, Government Effectiveness, Health Expenditures, and Natural

Resource Protection

Takeaway: The 2025 slippage on economic freedom and investing in people indicators aligns with citizens’ experience of high prices and strained services. Even though Liberia still clears MCC’s “hard hurdles” (Control of Corruption & Democratic Rights), backsliding on macro and service-delivery signals can choke inclusive growth.

U.S. State Department 2024 Country Report (human-rights governance)

The 2024 U.S. Country Report on Human Rights Practices for Liberia (released Aug. 12, 2025) catalogues significant problems including arbitrary/unlawful killings, torture or cruel treatment, serious restrictions on expression/media, and significant corruption, among others. These governance frictions weigh on investor confidence, service delivery, and ultimately household welfare.

So—Is Liberia better off today?

• Peace & stability: Slightly better than 2024 and roughly on par with 2023—good news for baseline stability.
• Governance & macro signals (MCC): Weaker in FY2025 vs. FY2024, especially on fiscal policy, inflation, trade policy, and health spending—consistent with price pressures and service gaps.
• Human-rights governance: Persistent rule-of-law/corruption issues remain, undermining policy credibility and price-setting discipline.
• Citizen welfare (prices): The President’s own remarks confirm no meaningful relief yet in household budgets.

Bottom line: In lived economic terms—especially prices—Liberia is not better off today. Peace has held; governance/economic-freedom signals slipped; and price stickiness persists.

Recommendations: Leadership moves that connect policy to prices

1. Publish an Import-Parity Pricing (IPP) Dashboard (weekly). Show CIF costs, port/handling, taxes, transport, and a recommended retail band for staple goods (rice, flour, sugar, fuel). Name and address the wedge between import costs and shelf prices. This deters opportunistic mark-ups and empowers the Commerce Ministry to act.
2. Stand up a Competition & Price-Gouging Taskforce (90 days). Led by Commerce/Justice with LRA, NPA, and Consumer Protection. Focus on market-dominance audits in rice, fuel, cement, and wholesale groceries; propose consent decrees and fines where warranted.
3. Cut logistics frictions that feed prices. Fast-track port fee reviews, demurrage/bureaucratic bottlenecks, axle-load enforcement that raises transport costs, and weighbridge and corridor “rent-extraction.” Quick wins here move retail prices fastest.
4. Macro discipline visible to markets. Publish a quarterly Fiscal Risk Statement and Treasury Cash Plan; coordinate with CBL on FX liquidity calendars. MCC’s Fiscal Policy and Inflation misses will not heal without tighter cash management and credible communication.
5. Health & education spending quality compacts.

Since Health Expenditures was flagged, shift from line-item growth to results-based primary-care financing (vaccination coverage, essential medicines availability) and transparent procurement to stretch each Liberian dollar.

6. Lock in MCC momentum—don’t coast. Treat FY2025’s pass as a warning light. Assign indicator “owners” (one senior official per indicator), publish a MCC Recovery Plan with quarterly public check-ins, and legislate targeted reforms (trade facilitation, regulatory quality, FOI implementation) that directly touch Trade Policy and Government Effectiveness.
7. Governance credibility shocks. Operationalize asset declarations (random verification), publish single-portal procurement with contract PDFs and beneficial-ownership data, and enforce sanctions for non-performance. This speaks to the State Dept.’s governance concerns and lowers the “risk premium” in pricing.
8. Protect the exchange-rate pass-through. Stabilize FX microstructure (transparent FX windows; avoid quasi-fiscal drains) so import-cost relief shows up at tills, not just at the port.
9. Consumer transparency. Launch a “Price Watch Liberia” mobile dashboard—crowdsourcing shelf prices in major markets, with government-verified “fair price” ranges. Naming and shaming abnormal spreads works faster than decrees.
10. Time-bound report from the VP’s Committee.

Require a published diagnostic and action matrix (with responsible agency and date) within the promised 45 days; then update the public monthly on implementation status.

Strong leadership is execution under sunlight. The GPI says Liberia remains broadly stable; the MCC and the State Department reports show where stability isn’t yet converting into prosperity. If the Presidency turns the VP-led prices committee into a hard-edged program—tackling competition, logistics, macro discipline, and governance transparency—household prices can fall, investor confidence can rise, and next year’s MCC scorecard can recover. Take it or leave it, Alexander B. Cummings can help in this regard if ARREST Agenda for Inclusive Development is truly what it says on paper – Inclusive.

Citations

1. GPI 2025 (Liberia rank/score).
2. GPI 2024 (Liberia rank/score).
3. GPI 2023 (Liberia rank/score).
4. Boakai’s July 26 committee on prices.
5. MCC FY2025: 11/20 (decline from 14).
6. MCC FY2024: 14/20 passed.
7. MCC FY2023: 12/20 passed.
8. U.S. 2024 Human Rights Report (release; core findings).