Liberia: UN Envoy Urges Liberia to Shift From Foreign Aid to Self-Reliance
The United Nations Resident Coordinator in Liberia, Madam Christine N. Umutoni, has urged the country to move beyond reliance on foreign aid and focus on building economic independence and sustainable growth.
Speaking at a press briefing in Monrovia on Tuesday, October 21, 2025, Madam Umutoni, UN, argues that for Liberia to achieve sustainable growth and fully meet the Sustainable Development Goals, the country must gradually reduce its reliance on foreign aid by mobilizing domestic resources, expanding revenue collection, and fostering private sector-led economic development.
Liberia has historically relied heavily on foreign aid to support its national budget, social programs, and development initiatives, a dependence rooted in decades of conflict and economic instability. After two civil wars between 1989 and 2003, the country’s infrastructure, public institutions, and economy were left in ruins, leaving Liberia unable to generate sufficient domestic revenue to fund essential services.
International donors, including the United Nations, the World Bank, the African Development Bank, and bilateral partners such as the United States and the European Union, stepped in to fill the gap. Aid has been directed toward rebuilding infrastructure, supporting health and education systems, providing humanitarian assistance, and promoting governance and institutional reforms.
Even in recent years, foreign aid has accounted for a significant portion of Liberia’s national budget, funding programs such as free primary education, health initiatives, poverty reduction schemes, and social safety nets. While this support has been crucial in stabilizing the country and improving access to essential services, it has also created a structural dependency, limiting Liberia’s capacity to fully finance its own development and invest in long-term economic self-sufficiency.
For instance, USAID’s recent exit from Liberia halted key infrastructure projects, leaving many communities without essential services and a significant number of Liberians unemployed.
This underscores the country’s heavy reliance on foreign aid for development and essential services.
Secondly, successive Liberian leaders, including President Boakai, former President Weah, and former President Sirleaf, have relied heavily on lobbying for foreign resources to fund ongoing national development projects, highlighting the country’s continued dependence on external aid.
However, Madam Umutoni believes that the country needs to move beyond reliance on foreign aid and focus on developing innovative financial frameworks that will build economic independence and sustainable growth for its citizens.
“We are also advocating for more innovative financial frameworks because development must move from aid to economic growth from dependency to independence,” she said, adding that Liberia should also explore new financing tools, such as government financing and domestic resource mobilization, to reduce reliance on foreign aid.
In closing, she said that Liberia is no longer just a beneficiary of peace but a builder of peace; therefore, it must encourage collective action to sustain the country’s progress toward lasting development.
By New Dawn.
