By Socrates Smythe Saywon
President Joseph Nyuma Boakai’s departure for the Ninth Tokyo International Conference on African Development (TICAD) in Japan on August 16, 2025, comes at a delicate moment for Liberia. TICAD is a respected global forum, co-organized by Japan, the United Nations, the World Bank, and the African Union, designed to foster trade, investment, and development partnerships across Africa. For a nation like Liberia, desperate for foreign investment and new economic opportunities, this platform matters.
Yet the size and makeup of the President’s delegation are raising eyebrows at home. No fewer than 23 senior officials, ranging from ministers and ambassadors to lawmakers and presidential envoys, are accompanying him, in addition to security, communications, and protocol staff. In a country struggling with fiscal deficits, poor infrastructure, and delayed public salaries, such a bloated delegation looks less like disciplined diplomacy and more like a political luxury trip.
The problem is not the President’s participation in TICAD itself. Engagement with Japan, one of Africa’s most consistent development partners, is both legitimate and necessary. Liberia has every reason to court Japanese investment in agriculture, energy, and infrastructure. But the optics of this trip are troubling. Do taxpayers need to finance such an oversized entourage for what is essentially an investment pitch?
A leaner, more strategic delegation could have delivered the same results. For instance, both the Foreign Minister and several deputy and assistant ministers are present, alongside two separate presidential envoys and Liberia’s Ambassador to Japan. Add to this the presence of the Finance Minister, the Commerce Minister, and the Chairman of the National Investment Commission, and one begins to wonder: are these officials traveling to negotiate or merely to be seen? The inclusion of two lawmakers, the chairs of foreign affairs committees in both chambers, also raises questions about duplication. Couldn’t parliamentary diplomacy be channeled through existing diplomatic missions?
This excess is particularly jarring against the backdrop of Liberia’s economic hardships. President Boakai has repeatedly urged Liberians to tighten their belts under his ARREST agenda. But how credible is a call for sacrifice when top officials are globe-trotting in large numbers at the state’s expense? Such contradictions erode public trust and give the impression that austerity applies only to the ordinary citizen, not to the political elite.
There is also the practical concern of governance. With so many ministers and senior figures absent, the Cabinet has been left in the hands of Justice Minister Natu Tweh, supported remotely by Vice President Jeremiah Koung via telephone. In a government already plagued by capacity and coordination problems, this arrangement raises the question: who is effectively managing state affairs while the leadership is away?
None of this is to say that Liberia cannot benefit from TICAD. If the President returns with concrete commitments, such as Japanese investment in renewable energy, modernized agriculture, or infrastructure upgrades, then the trip may well justify its costs. Japan has historically been a reliable partner in Africa, and Liberia is in dire need of precisely the kind of investment TICAD promotes. But Liberians have seen this movie before: countless foreign trips ending in photo opportunities, glowing communiqués, and promises that never translate into improved living conditions.
That is why this trip is as much a test as it is an opportunity. The test is whether President Boakai can prove that his administration’s international engagements are not just about prestige but about measurable gains. The opportunity is the chance to channel Japan’s interest into tangible investments that create jobs, improve services, and lift Liberia out of stagnation.
But if the Japan mission ends as just another diplomatic fanfare, with lavish delegations, lofty speeches, and little follow-through, then it will confirm the fears of many Liberians: that this administration is better at symbolism than substance.
In the end, President Boakai’s Japan trip will not be judged by the number of officials who accompanied him, nor by the headlines generated in Tokyo. It will be judged by whether ordinary Liberians, who continue to struggle under economic strain, see any real benefits. If they do not, this mission will be remembered not as a turning point for Liberia’s development, but as yet another costly spectacle.
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