The World Bank Group (WBG) has introduced a new Country Partnership Framework (CPF) for Liberia, aiming to support the creation of more and better jobs by concentrating on four key areas: education, energy access, accountable governance, and private investment with a focus on agroindustry and forestry. This framework will span from Fiscal Years 2025 to 2030.
The CPF aligns with Liberia's national vision, "Liberia Rising 2030," which outlines goals for peace, stability, and inclusive growth. The framework also supports the nation's development plan to elevate Liberia to lower-middle income status within five years.
Robert Taliercio, World Bank Division Director for Ghana, Liberia, and Sierra Leone stated: “We recognize Liberia’s achievements in maintaining peace and stability since 2003. A critical focus of our engagement with Liberia is to help the country experience the dividends of peace through more and better jobs and improved quality of life for all Liberians. The CPF is closely aligned with the ARREST Agenda for Inclusive Development (AAID) and aims to accelerate development impact in the crucial years remaining to deliver on Liberia’s Vision 2030.”
The CPF seeks to enhance collaboration between Liberia and WBG through a “One WBG” approach that encourages cooperation among its institutions—IDA, IBRD, IFC, and MIGA—to tackle development challenges effectively. It emphasizes enabling private sector growth via initiatives like Mission 300 and agribusiness scale-up efforts.
Dahlia Khalifa, IFC Regional Director for Central and Anglophone West Africa remarked: “At the heart of the new CPF for Liberia is job creation. The CPF highlights opportunities for greater private sector investment in critical sectors such as energy generation, agribusiness, and forestry value chains that will contribute to addressing the jobs challenge."
The framework also focuses on moving away from a state-centric development model towards one that promotes private sector involvement. This involves investing in education and skills development particularly targeting women and youth.
Şebnem Erol Madan from MIGA added: “The WBG will support an integrated set of reforms embedding a sequenced approach over the CPF period. Through effective collaboration between World Bank, IFC and MIGA IDA-financed projects will help create conditions for mobilizing private investment through IFC and MIGA.”
This initiative aims at ending extreme poverty while promoting shared prosperity by integrating feedback from government stakeholders along with civil society organizations.