The civil war in Liberia led the country to have defaulted on its obligation with many international organizations sometimes making its membership inactive.
Well, the Inter Africa Coffee organization (IACO) is just one of the many organizations Liberia was part of but became inactive due to its failure to settle due obligations.
The Country became a member of the IACO in 1972and grew to be one of the organization’s vibrant members in the 80s when now President Joseph Nyumah was Managing Director of the Liberia Produce Marketing Corporation LPMC which has now been changed to LACRA.
The new Management team led by honorable Christopher D. Sankolo has been making frantic efforts to get Liberia readmitted into the organization.
On Wednesday November 27, 2024 Liberia got readmitted and made a payment of fifteen thousand United States dollars against the One hundred and fifty thousand euros Liberia is indebted to the organization.
It all happen on the sideline of the 64th High level panel and General Assembly of the Inter Africa Cocoa Organization taking place in Addis Ababa Ethiopia.
The Director General of the Liberia Agriculture Commodity Regulatory Authority Christopher D. Sankolo is representing both LACRA and the Ministry of Agriculture at the event.
He described Liberia’s re-admittance as a great start towards the transformation of Liberia’s coffee sector.
“Our re-admittance after three decades is a testament that our President Joseph Nyumah Boakai who himself is an agriculturalist has special interest in the advancement of agriculture trade especially coffee and cocoa’’ he noted during.
Honorable Sankolo who had the privilege to serve as one of the nine panelists on the High-Level Policy Forum on Wednesday, pledged government’s commitment to settle all of its obligations with the Inter African Coffee Organization (IACO) in the soonest time possible.
The High-Level Panel discussed issues affecting the coffee sector In Africa. Topics included Climate Change, Research, Financing, and Africa’s challenges with the EUDR implementation.
The LACRA Director General also had the opportunity to participate in the 64th General Assembly of the Inter Africa Coffee Organization at the Skylight Hotel in Addis Ababa Ethiopia.
It can be recalled that a delegation from the Inter-African Coffee Organization (IACO) led by its Secretary-General, Solomon Rutega and Dr. Celestine Gataryiha, Director of Research and Development met with President Joseph Boakai in Monrovia in August of this year to discussed strategies to rejuvenate Liberia’s coffee industry, which has faced challenges over the years due to economic and environmental factors. During the meeting, President Boakai expressed his administration’s commitment to revitalizing the sector.
The Director General of LACRA, Christopher D. Sankolo who hosted the delegation and accompanied by the Board Chairperson of LACRA Josephine George Francis led the delegation of the Inter African Coffee Organization to meet with the President at the time of the visit.
The discussions also touched on the need for greater collaboration between the government, local farmers, and international partners. The IACO delegation proposed initiatives aimed at enhancing the skills of local farmers, increasing access to international markets, and improving the overall value chain in the coffee sector.
Founded in 1960, IACO was established to address the challenges faced by African coffee-producing countries and to enhance the global competitiveness of African coffee. The organization’s headquarters is located in Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire.
