By Festus Poquie
Orange Money Liberia has launched a bid to sell a 20% stake to Liberian-owned businesses and investors even as the country’s key securities regulator remains inactive, raising concerns about oversight, fairness and compliance in a market that lacks a fully functioning watchdog.
The mobile money company said in a public notice Monday that the proposed transaction will be carried out through a private placement and in line with “applicable laws, regulatory requirements, and eligibility criteria” set by Orange Money Liberia.
Interested Liberian investors and locally owned institutions can submit expressions of interest from July 20 to Aug. 4, the company said.
Under Liberia’s mobile money rules, private Liberian investors or Liberian-owned institutions are supposed to be given the opportunity to subscribe to at least 20% of a mobile money provider’s capital, while no single private investor may hold more than 5% of the shares allocated to Liberian investors.
But the sale is unfolding in the absence of a fully operational Securities and Exchange Commission, which was created under the Securities Market Act of 2016 to regulate share offerings, protect market integrity and curb abuses such as insider trading and conflicts of interest.
More than a decade after the law was enacted, the commission has yet to be activated, leaving the Central Bank of Liberia to oversee a process critics say lacks proper checks and balances.
The company said it is working with Ecobank Development Corporation as an adviser on the divestment initiative. Orange said it was not aware of the Liberia Stock Exchange or the Securities and Exchange Commission and is instead working with the central bank, according to an employee who responded to Oracle News Daily.
The Central Bank of Liberia didn’t immediately respond to inquiries about its role in the share sale or how the process is being handled without the securities watchdog.
The offer comes after regulators stepped up pressure on mobile network operators over local ownership rules. In May 2025, the Financial Intelligence Agency of Liberia fined Orange Money Liberia L$15 million after an inspection found breaches of anti-money-laundering and counter-terrorist financing rules, including deficiencies in board oversight, risk management and access for Liberian investors to the legally required 20% shareholding.
President Joseph Boakai has also criticized mobile operators over alleged withholding of shares intended for Liberians. He has said the government should ensure the public gets its rightful stake and vowed to pursue the matter if companies fail to identify beneficiaries or surrender the shares.
A separate Senate probe is also examining Lonestar Cell MTN over allegations it excluded local shareholders from governance and failed to issue share certificates despite claims that Liberians own 20% of the business.
The latest Orange Money offering highlights the challenge of enforcing ownership rules in Liberia’s financial sector while the institutions meant to police the market remain weak or absent.
