Unemployment challenges facing the country

As a country where we have never had a middle class, let alone a producing middle class as in all other countries, this is a tough one. We import the lion’s share of our fresh produce from Guinea; we do not grow it ourselves. Most of our people have for various reasons flocked to Monrovia in search of livelihoods. Most academics here have studied here and abroad with one purpose, to land jobs in government or international organisations.

These are, as you know generalisations, that of course have many exceptions all around us, but in general this is the picture. What is missing here is the entrepreneur. It is hard to find entrepreneurs among people who have studied law, political science and accounting. Sure, we have businessmen/women, but in reality these are traders. Here I mean the Lebanese, the Indian, the Fulani, the marketwomen, the wheelbarrow boys. They import or buy wholesale, and sell wholesale/retail. There is no value added.

What we are missing is a group that invest and risk capital on projects that use local produce/raw materials and produce products for the domestic or international market. The first that comes to mind is the food processing industry. The farming industry is also neglected.

Sure, there have been numerous concession agreements signed. This is positive, but still the jobs created thus far have been marginal. What we need are large scale, labour intensive industries that produce what we need here.

Enough said, but the morale of the story is study business, come home and invest in your ideas for the good of the nation.