MONROVIA, LIBERIA — Despite recording 5.1 percent economic growth in 2025, Liberia experienced an increase in its international poverty rate, raising questions about whether the country’s improving macroeconomic indicators are translating into better living conditions for ordinary citizens.
The contradiction has prompted Gbarpolu County Senator Amara M. Konneh to challenge the country’s development priorities, arguing that economic expansion driven largely by mining cannot sufficiently improve household welfare when agriculture, manufacturing, and the informal business sector remain weak.
On Friday, November 6, 2026, Senator Amara M. Konneh released a detailed economic commentary drawing on the Central Bank of Liberia’s August 2026 Monthly Economic Review and the World Bank’s November 2026 Seventh Liberia Economic Update, Konneh questioned why poverty could increase at a time when the economy was reportedly stabilizing, the Liberian dollar was strengthening, and headline inflation was moderating. The senator’s central argument is that economic growth should not be measured exclusively by increases in gross domestic product (GDP), but by whether that growth generates productive employment, improves household incomes, strengthens small businesses, and increases the purchasing power of citizens.
According to the World Bank figures cited by Konneh, Liberia’s international poverty rate, measured using the $3.00-per-person-per-day poverty threshold in 2021 purchasing power parity terms, increased from 34.6 percent in 2024 to 36.1 percent.
The increase represents a 1.5-percentage-point rise, reversing part of the improvement recorded in the preceding year. The World Bank attributed the increase largely to inflation and sluggish growth in agriculture, highlighting the difficulty of translating economic expansion into meaningful improvements in the livelihoods of vulnerable households.
For Konneh, the figures expose a structural weakness in Liberia’s growth pattern, where sectors generating substantial economic output are not necessarily the same sectors providing livelihoods for the majority of the population.
He pointed to the contrasting performance of major economic sectors in 2025, noting that mining expanded by 17 percent, while agriculture grew by only 2.6 percent and manufacturing contracted by 2.8 percent. The difference, he argued, is important because mining expansion can increase national output and export earnings without necessarily creating sufficient employment opportunities or income gains for the wider population.
Agriculture, meanwhile, remains particularly important to ordinary Liberians because of its connection to food production, rural livelihoods, household incomes, and employment opportunities.
When agricultural growth remains sluggish, the economic benefits reaching farmers and communities dependent on farming may be limited, even as other sectors contribute to higher national growth figures.
Konneh also highlighted Liberia’s employment structure, pointing out that approximately 78 percent of workers are primarily engaged in informal self-employment or contributing family work. He further cited World Bank findings indicating that microenterprises account for approximately 86 percent of businesses, with nearly 89 percent operating as single-person enterprises.
These figures, according to the senator, demonstrate the vulnerability of Liberia’s economic foundation.
A country where most workers depend on informal economic activities and small businesses cannot achieve inclusive development merely by recording strong growth in capital-intensive sectors.
He argued that when mining performs strongly but agriculture grows slowly and manufacturing contracts, the resulting economic expansion may fail to generate sufficient opportunities for the majority of citizens. This is the contradiction he described as “growth without welfare gains.”
The senator’s argument also challenges the assumption that improvements in macroeconomic indicators automatically translate into improved household conditions.
He maintained that a stronger currency, lower inflation, increased government revenue, and expanding GDP are important achievements, but their real value must be assessed by how they affect the daily lives of Liberians.
The Central Bank’s August 2026 economic review provides another dimension to the debate.
According to the figures Konneh presented, headline inflation stood at 4.6 percent in August 2026, compared with 5.6 percent during the corresponding period in 2025. Month-on-month inflation also slowed from 2.1 percent to 0.9 percent.
However, the senator cautioned that declining inflation does not mean that prices have returned to previous levels.
He explained that inflation measures the rate at which prices increase, meaning that a reduction in inflation generally indicates slower price increases rather than an actual decline in the cost of goods and services.
This distinction is particularly important for households whose incomes have not increased sufficiently to compensate for earlier increases in food, transportation, housing, and other essential expenses.
Konneh drew attention to domestic food inflation of 11.1 percent, food and nonalcoholic beverage inflation of 6.1 percent, and transportation inflation of 7.6 percent, arguing that these categories carry greater consequences for ordinary households than the headline inflation figure alone might suggest. The senator’s analysis therefore raises questions about the distribution of economic benefits and whether Liberia’s current growth pattern is sufficiently connected to the income-generating activities of ordinary citizens.
He maintained that economic development must be judged by whether farmers earn more from production, market women expand their businesses, young people obtain productive employment, and families can afford more food and other necessities.
The debate also places responsibility on the national Legislature, particularly as lawmakers consider the 2027 national budget.
Konneh drew attention to World Bank figures showing that government capital expenditure declined from 8.5 percent of GDP in 2024 to 5.7 percent in 2025, falling from approximately US$406 million to US$297 million. He argued that the decline should receive serious attention during deliberations on the 2027 budget because government spending should increasingly support productive infrastructure, employment creation, economic opportunity, and development.
The senator emphasized that the Legislature, which exercises appropriation powers, must accept its share of responsibility for ensuring that national resources are directed toward investments that improve citizens’ living conditions.
His argument suggests that Liberia’s development strategy requires stronger connections between national economic expansion and the sectors where most citizens earn their livelihoods.
Rather than relying primarily on headline economic growth, he wants policymakers to focus on agriculture, small businesses, productive employment, and the purchasing power of households. Konneh also cautioned against interpreting the country’s economic indicators without considering the experiences of citizens who continue to struggle with the cost of living.
He acknowledged that the administration has made progress in macroeconomic stability but maintained that such progress should be treated as a means toward development rather than an achievement sufficient in itself.
At the midpoint of the Boakai-Koung administration, his message is that the government’s economic performance must increasingly be measured by improvements in the economic circumstances of ordinary Liberians.
The central question emerging from the senator’s analysis is whether Liberia can transform its current economic expansion into a development model that creates more jobs, supports domestic production, strengthens small businesses, and reduces poverty. For Konneh, economic growth becomes meaningful when the benefits reach the people whose lives the national economy is expected to improve.
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