PHOTO: Madam Georgia Wallen, World Bank Group Liberia Country Manager
The World Bank Liberia Country Manager has underscored the need to expand opportunity for Liberian businesses and help more entrepreneurs gain access to finance in order to grow.
Madam Georgia Wallen made the statement recently during the official launch of the Enhanced Collateral Registry System, as she cited access to finance as one of the biggest challenges facing Liberian businesses.
BELOW IS FULL TEXT OF THE WORLD BANK COUNTRY MANAGER’S REMARKS:
Remarks for Georgia Wallen, Country Manager, World Bank Group, Liberia
Official Launch of the Enhanced Collateral Registry System
August 27, 2026
Thank you for the opportunity to join today’s official launch of the Enhanced Collateral Registry System. On behalf of the World Bank Group, hearty kudos for this breakthrough! Today is about expanding opportunity for Liberian businesses and helping more entrepreneurs gain vital access to the financing they need to grow. It builds on the past and opens doors for the future.
Access to finance is one of the biggest challenges facing businesses in Liberia. Too often, promising entrepreneurs cannot obtain credit because they do not own land or buildings that can be used as traditional collateral. Yet many of them possess valuable productive assets — such as inventory, equipment, livestock, receivables, and more — that can support borrowing.
The Enhanced Collateral Registry helps bridge this gap. It gives lenders greater confidence to accept a wider range of assets as collateral and helps borrowers unlock the value of assets they already own. In doing so, it can expand access to credit, particularly for micro, small, and medium-sized enterprises that are the backbone of Liberia’s economy.
This is not a new agenda. The Central Bank of Liberia (CBL), with the support of IFC and with funding from the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (SIDA), launched the Liberia Collateral Registry back in 2014 as part of broader efforts to strengthen access to finance and secured transactions in Liberia. The original Collateral Registry demonstrated what is possible, facilitating over US$237 million in financing within its first two years of operation — and over half of the borrowers were women. This was especially impressive in 2014, when business activity was depressed due to the Ebola pandemic. Yet progress lagged over time due to technical, operational, and market constraints.
Today’s launch of the enhanced collateral registry revives the vision and is a bold step forward. This is part of the wider effort to catalyze the next phase of secured transactions reform in line with Liberia’s Vision 2030 and the ARREST Agenda for Inclusive Development. The WBG is honored to support Liberia in this journey. Our support encompasses in-depth tehcnical advisory support by IFC as well as WB engagement through the Liberia Investment Finance and Trade (LIFT) Project. This is central to the WBG partnership with Liberia, focused on building foundations for more and better-paid jobs for Liberians – nationwide.
The upgraded Registry responds directly to many of the issues identified by the market. Through the LIFT Project, the upgraded system was deployed with capability to facilitate lending against both movable and immovable assets. The upgrade also strengthens the underlying technology, improves reliability and availability, introduces capability to connect with other registries and databases, to ensure seamless access to official and reliable data.
- To complement the technology, the CBL, is implementing several reforms with technical assistance from IFC, including enhancing the Legal and Regulatory Framework around secured transactions.
- For example, the Amended Regulations for Secured Transactions and Collateral Registry (2026) establish a clear and comprehensive regulatory framework.
- They also establish requirements for registration, amendment, and discharge of financing statements as well as the obligations of borrowers and lenders.
Lessons learned from the past show that technology and regulations alone are not enough: the success of this Registry will depend on its widespread use. Market participants need familiarity with movable asset financing and with the Collateral Registry itself. To address this, the Central Bank, the Banking Institute of Liberia, and the IFC are working together to deliver a Specialized Training on Movable & Immovable Assets Financing — expected to begin in the first week of September. A nationwide awareness campaign on secured transactions and collateral registry is also coming to help ensure that businesses, lenders, and other stakeholders understand how the platform can be used to expand access to finance. In addition, to help ensure that the entire credit infrastructure ecosystem works together, the Government and the Central Bank are investing in the deployment of a credit reporting system with the support of the LIFT Project. Together, the upgraded Collateral Registry and related legal, regulatory and institutional reforms, will help lenders make better-informed decisions, manage risk more effectively, and expand access to finance.
For these reforms to function effectively, everyone has a role to play: Financial institutions will need to incorporate it into their lending practices. Businesses will need to understand how it can help them access finance. Regulators, courts, and supporting institutions will need to continue to ensure that the system remains trusted, transparent, and effective.
Ultimately, the Enhanced Collateral Registry is more than a database. It is part of a broader effort to create economic opportunity, support entrepreneurship, and enable businesses to invest, create jobs, and contribute to Liberia’s growth.
Today marks the beginning of a new chapter in financial inclusion and private sector development in Liberia. Let us work together to ensure that today’s new beginning for the enhanced collateral registry translates into more access to financed; more thriving businesses; and more jobs for Liberians.
Congratulations again to Liberia!