As New Country Partnership Framework For Liberia Launched 

PHOTO: World Bank Group New Country Partnership Framework for Liberia Launched

MONROVIA, December 3, 2025 – The World Bank Group (WBG) in partnership with the Liberian Government, has launched its new Country Partnership Framework (CPF) for Liberia.

The CPF supports more and better jobs by focusing selectively on four essential outcome areas: education; energy access; accountable and transparent governance; and private investment – with focus on agroindustry and forestry.

The launch was held on Wednesday, December 3, at the Ellen Johnson Sirleaf Ministerial Complex in Oldest Congo Town, Monrovia, Liberia. It brought together senior officials of the Liberian Government, the World Bank Group, development partners, private sector, civil society actors, youth groups, and other relevant stakeholders.

International Finance Corporation (IFC) Division Director for Gulf of Guinea Cluster (West Africa 2), Ms. Nathalie Kouassi Akon, who attended the launch described the event as, : “a signal that Liberia is ready to transform its potential into progress, to turn national aspiration into tangible impact for its people.”

Speaking further, Madam Akon said the CPF is designed to help Liberia meet some of its deepest, most urgent needs such as:

• Creating more and better jobs,
• Strengthening essential services, through better governance
• Expanding opportunities for women, youth, and MSMEs,
• Building resilience, and
• Attracting investment where it is most needed.

“Job creation sits at the center of everything we do:

• Jobs change lives;
• Jobs build dignity;
• Jobs stabilize societies; and,
• Jobs are how countries turn growth into opportunity.”

World Bank Liberia Country Manager Georgia Wallen said the new World Bank Group (WBG) Country Partnership Framework (CPF) aims to help Liberia achieve its national development plan – the ARREST Agenda for Inclusive Development (AAID), which is the last leg of the race to Liberia’s Vision 2030.

Georgia Wallen, World Bank Liberia Country Manager

Ms. Wallen highlighted few things that the public needs to know about the significance of the CPF:

• “First, WBG partnership with Liberia over the next five years will have one aim: building foundations for more and better jobs.  Everything we do, say, or write over the next five years will have this one core motivation — jobs.  Why? Because jobs are the pathway to delivering AAID and pursuing the WBG goals to end extreme poverty and promote shared prosperity on a livable planet. During yesterday’s Cabinet Meeting, Liberia’s leaders committed to identifying and tackling constraints to employment – especially for youth.  WBG partnership is well positioned and squarely focused on deepening support in this area.
• “Second, how will we help build “foundations” for more and better jobs?  We will focus on scaling up results in four key outcome areas tailored to the Liberian context and essential foundations for jobs.  These are: (i) reducing learning poverty; (ii) increasing energy access, (iii) promoting, transparent and accountable governance; (iv) increasing private investment – including in agroindustry and sustainable forest economies.  Our program will focus on achieving results on these four outcomes.  We will integrate resilience in all our efforts, including climate resilience, fiscal resilience, and social resilience – with focus on youth and women.   All we do (from foundational learning; to investments in women’s economic empowerment; lighting up health centers; boosting access to digital services; promoting an SME Accelerator) will have a unified focus on laying foundations for jobs.
• “Third, no one runs or wins a relay race alone.  Strategic partnerships will be decisive.  The CPF was developed through dialogue and consultation with the Government of Liberia as well as development partners, youth, private sector representatives, academia and others. We started the CPF in a consultative way, and we will continue to maintain a consultative, partnership approach.”

Senior Presidential Advisor to President Joseph Nyumah Boakai, Dr. Augustine Konneh, delivered remarks at the launch on behalf of the Liberian Government. He said, “Liberia recognizes and celebrates the World Bank’s enduring commitment to our national renewal. You have been a cornerstone in our economic recovery effort, and your support continues to empower our government to make progress where progress was once impossible.”

Dr. Konneh added that, “I am convinced that this Country Partnership Framework (CPF) aligns with our national development strategy, the ARREST Agenda. This is the type of partnership we want: one where national priorities are respected, where collaboration is strategic, and where development is driven by the aspirations of Liberians themselves.”

Finance and Development Planning Minister Hon. Augustine Kpehe Ngafuan welcomed the launch of the CPF. He added that, “These next five years are decisive for reaching our 2030 goals. The CPF arrives at the right time and can help us accelerate progress if we focus on results, efficiency, and accountability.”

“We value the World Bank’s support for resilient, inclusive, and accountable development. The challenges we face, post-conflict recovery, economic shocks, and climate risks, require a partnership that combines financing with stronger institutions, better systems, and empowered communities,” Minister Ngafuan emphasized.

The CPF aims to strengthen the growing collaboration between Liberia and the World Bank Group via a “One WBG” approach that emphasizes collaboration among the Group’s different institutions (IDA, IBRD, IFC, and MIGA) to address Liberia’s development challenges more effectively. It increases focus on enabling private sector development through key corporate initiatives – particularly Mission 300 and the WBG’s agribusiness scale-up – to catalyze partnerships and crowd in financing.

Focusing on building foundations for jobs will also demand multi-sectoral approaches backed by robust analytical work and intensified implementation support. The CPF will also support Liberia’s evolution away from a state-centric, concession-based development model in line with a “reset” of Liberia’s development model as proposed in the AAID. To this end, the CPF will enable scaled-up investment in education, skills, and productivity of the Liberian people – particularly women and youth – as well as unlocking opportunities for private sector investment and jobs.

The new CPF is aligned with the WBG mission of ending extreme poverty and promoting shared prosperity on a livable planet. It aims to deliver catalytic and selective support for Liberia’s new AAID, maximizing the One WBG value proposition. The CPF integrates feedback from dialogue with key stakeholders, including the government, the private sector, civil society, academia, and other development partners. 

Contact:

In Monrovia: Michael Nyumah Sahr, (231) 886-514-321, msahr@worldbank.org