Business
Liberia: A history and opportunity for African-Americans
Robert L. Johnson, the renowned businessman and investor, said it best. He was speaking of the importance of the West African country of Liberia to the United States, and African-Americans in particular. The United States, Johnson said, has a “special obligation” to support Liberia. “The country was established in 1847 by freed American slaves, and its first few presidents were African-American.”
That’s true. Liberia was a model of West African stability and development until the late 1980s, when a 14-year civil war ravaged the country, tearing apart lives, families, infrastructure and nearly every aspect of life in this small country.
There is a good bit of construction that’s easily apparent to anyone who rides along the streets here; there are more stores, there is more development. However, there are also deep-set issues of staggeringly high unemployment, particularly among the country’s youth, a segment of the population that is growing at near-lightening speed. There are dire needs in virtually every sector of life here, from health care to housing and education.
What will help ease this burden is for more Americans, particularly African-Americans, to invest here. Johnson did just that by developing a luxury hotel on the outskirts of Monrovia. While many might question the need for a high-end hotel in a city where most people are struggling to make ends meet, the truth is that investors who come here from the United States, Europe or the rest of the world are more likely to come if they have a comfortable place to stay.