Monrovia — The Governor of the Central Bank of Liberia (CBL) Aloysius Tarlue has underscored the significance of investment in the private sector, with a call on Liberians to discourage the mindset of being too dependent on the government to provide job opportunities.
According to him, investment in the private sector serves as a conduit for the provision of job opportunities to citizens and others.
He said government alone cannot provide employment opportunities for all its citizens, and as such, private sector investment will help alleviate some of the constraints citizens are encountering.
He made these comments at the opening of the AFREXIMBANK Liberia Trade Roadshow held at the Ministerial Complex in Congo Town, outside Monrovia on Tuesday, May 16.
The two-day event was organized by Oakwood Green Africa in collaboration with LOITA, HAVIT and the National Investment Commission (NIC).
It is being held under the theme: Supporting the Intra-Africa Trade Agenda: Ensuring the Last Mile.
Governor Tarlue maintained that the engine of the economy of any country is the private sector, adding that, investments in the sector by local and foreign entrepreneurs will help boom the country's economy.
He said investments in the private sector will grow Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) and improve their financial capacities to employ more citizens.
"We are here today because we believe in private sector investment. We see private investment as the conduit to job growth. Government is not the answer to employment. When the people from Oakwood and the AFREXIMBANK contacted us, we feel that the more private investments happen in Liberia, the better for our economy and people. Government cannot grow jobs."
Governor Tarlue disclosed that the CBL continues to play an open role in promoting trade in Liberia.
He said as enshrined in the Act that created the CBL, its main objective is to promote price and financial stability in the country, and seeks to support the government's economic policy.
He added that it remains the responsibility of the bank to ensure that the economy is stable and jobs are provided to citizens.
"When you hear price stability and financial stability-if the economy is good and people having jobs and the private sector grows, we will get stabilized. If we all depend on government, it will be difficult."
He observed that the AFREXIMBANK remains a multi-finance trade institution that continues to play a major role in promoting, facilitating, and financing intra and outside-African trade.
He described the bank as a "very true friend of Africa."
He pointed out that the bank's vision is to be a trade finance bank for Africa by stimulating a consistent expansion and diversification of African trade and trade-related activities to rapidly increase Africa's self-global trade.
As for Oakwood Green, Governor Tarlue pointed out that the institution which is based in Accra, Ghana has been a good partner to Liberia as evidenced by the financial and capital risk it took to establish the Global Bank in Liberia.
According to him, Global Bank is assiduously performing in the country.
Governor Tarlue, however, expressed that the event will not only be a "show", but will help build the relationship between local and foreign entrepreneurs and positively deliver to benefits the nation and its people.
He stressed the need for Small, Medium Enterprises (SMEs) to benefit from loans and other opportunities from the initiatives to promote trade and help improve the country's economy.
"We are here today because we believe in what you are doing; the path system will be good in reducing crimes and transacting businesses from one country to another country."
Governor Tarlue further stressed the need for African entrepreneurs to collectively work together if they must be successful as compared to their European counterparts, adding that, "we need to come together to make money."
He encouraged owners of local businesses to maximize the opportunity afforded them and partner with their foreign colleagues and the Pan-African Bank to improve their respective businesses.
Also speaking, the Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Oakwood Green Africa Limited Mr. Gabriel Edgal disclosed that actions that would be taken at the end of the roadshow have the propensity to ship the destiny of the African continent.
He stressed that the event is intended to ensure that African entrepreneurs can be able free themselves from mental slavery and break the barriers that have taken their destinies to guarantee a brighter future.
He underscored the need for Africans to unite and hold together if they must succeed in trade and move their continent forward.
"We should ship the future that we want to see and we must be actors of our own destiny. Trade has the power to build bridges; trade has the power to connect nations."
Mr. Edgal maintained that trade has the power to also bring people together to carry out infrastructural developments and combat poverty.
He said regional trade across the continent must be prioritized and encouraged without any hindrance or bottlenecks.
He added that no one can develop or move the African continent forward unless Africans themselves.
Mr. Edgal said local entrepreneurs should align and forge partnerships with others as part of efforts to improve their businesses and move the continent forward.
Oakwood Green Africa is a growing Pan-African institution fueled by a passion to enable greatness across Africa.
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With strategic investments in key focus areas, it is helping to change the African narrative by leveraging partnerships and synergies across a wide network of change-makers and global leaders.
The AFREXIMBANK developed the Export Trading Company (EXTRACO) Initiative, to facilitate the emergence and expansion of African Export Trading Companies (ETCs) in Africa, in order to support efforts to increase intra-African trade and accelerate the industrialization/export development process in the continent through a range of financing instruments as well as trade facilitation interventions.
The main role of African ETCs is to facilitate all types of exports, including those of value-added/manufactured products. ETCs buy goods and services from producers, and manufacturers including Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) and smallholder farmers and export them. They also act as agents for manufacturing companies and facilitate exports of their principals.
The Bank is supporting both large ETCs as well as small and medium-sized ETCs involved in exporting goods and services produced in Africa to other African countries including Africans in the diaspora; exporting goods and services produced in Africa to the global market; facilitating the exportation of goods produced in Africa by unaffiliated entities by providing one or more export trade services; and importing or facilitating the importation of goods and services that are critical in facilitating export manufacturing and value addition.
