The Emanuel Shaw Interview
Volume 1: Issue 2 | The Emanuel Shaw Interview

SD: What, in your opinion, have been your greatest achievements in the public sector?
ES :There is no doubt in my mind that the most significant contribution that I have made in the public sector was my leadership of financial sector reform during the early years (1997 to 2001) of the Taylor administration. Firstly as Advisor to the President on Financial and Economic Affairs, then as Chairman of a Special Presidential Commission on Banking, and later as Chairman of FINREF (the financial sector reform secretariat established in the Office of the President upon our recommendation to institutionalize and implement the reform process), I was privileged to head various teams of Liberian professionals which, inter alia, wound-up and dissolved the National Bank of Liberia (then serving as a quasi central bank). We created and established a new, full-fledged and autonomous Central Bank of Liberia in its stead; drafted and submitted for successful legislative enactment a new Financial Institutions Act to govern the regulation and operation of all banks and other financial institutions in Liberia; and designed, printed and swapped the first multi-denominational Liberian banknotes, now known as the “Liberty”.

This clean-up, streamlining, and modernization of banking and monetary policy remains extant and, in my view, continues to positively impact the financial sector. Incidentally, as Finance Minister in 1989, I introduced the first ever Liberian banknote, in a single denomination of $5, and superintended a major currency swap in which the cumbersome $5 coins that were in circulation as domestic currency at the time were withdrawn.

SD: What is your opinion of the progression of business in Liberia since the war?
(From a Liberian standpoint? From an investor’s standpoint?)
ES: From both a Liberian and investor standpoint, I would say that there is one single major anomaly in the Liberian business environment that impacts negatively on every aspect of business life, and that is the dominance by foreign businesses of our trade, commerce, manufacturing, mining, hospitality, telecommunications, construction, and all other sectors, whether vital or not. This phenomenon has afflicted our economy for more than 75 years, and is so pervasive and invasive that it has been accepted as “normal” by most Liberians. With very few exceptions, these foreign-owned entities have ripped-of our country and people by exploiting our natural resources under unfair “concession” agreements. We have sat supinely and watched Bomi Hills turned into Bomi Hole (now Blue Lake). We have seen the likes of LAMCO and Bong Mines come and go, leaving nothing behind for the Liberian people; growth without development, indeed. Today, there is a new wave of “concessionaires” coming in pursuit of oil, timber, iron ore, gold, diamonds, and other natural resources. From my limited knowledge derived from what is available in the public domain, it appears that the new concession agreements and production sharing contracts now being signed or renegotiated seem to be mindful of the past mistakes, and we are told that they contain safeguards that address these issues. We can only hope and pray that these new arrangements will provide sufficient backward linkages to our economy to allow the private sector to benefit from their operations here, and that – through proper monitoring and strong enforcement – they will finally allow the Liberian people to enjoy the fruits of this exploitation of our birthrights.

Similarly, the trade and commercial sectors, and more recently the transportation, real estate, and hospitality sectors, are completely dominated by foreign businessmen. They are so ubiquitous that they can be found in every part of our country, from the largest cities to the smallest towns, and even in some villages. Almost every street in Liberia is lined with what I call their “minimum investment structures”: ugly, open store fronts with steel doors to protect their goods at night and with apartments above the stores where they live or rent. Liberians are so used to this that we don’t even see these eyesores anymore, and just accept this as though it is the natural order of things. Now, of late, almost every single major real estate development in Monrovia is being undertaken by foreign businessmen.....apartment buildings, office blocks, hotels, et cetera. And many of them – if not most --continue to exploit our people through under-invoicing, over-pricing, understatement of profits and hence underpayment of taxes, and payment of immorally low rents for absurdly long leases of land and property.

Every successive Liberian government genuflects to them, referring to them by the “politically correct” sobriquet of “partners-in-progress”, when it is so patently clear that the progress of Liberia and its citizens is not of the least concern to them. Anyone of them who sets foot in Liberia is already an “investor”, whether they ever invest or not. They clamor for duty-free and tax free privileges, and we are happy to grant them these “investment incentives”, where even the meager taxes that they should pay on their understated profits are waived. Many of them ingratiate themselves to some of our leaders, arrogating unto themselves the preferential right to any and all contracts in Liberia. They infiltrate our social and community structures, and do all that they can to influence any legislation that would hold them in check or make them give way to Liberians. These saboteurs of our economy are the ones truly guilty of economic crimes. They are the enemy within. But they are also the big elephant in the room, the one that everyone can see but no one wants to talk about. Instead, we look for scapegoats to blame for our own inadequacies. I am not saying anything new here, or anything that all thinking Liberians do not already know. What is novel is the fact that I am actually saying it. Well, it’s about time, for the good of our country, that we tell it like it is, and call a spade a spade.

Whilst not every foreign businessman is part of this – and indeed there are very many notable exceptions – the fact remains that their collective presence in our country has reduced Liberians to being mere bystanders in our own economy, frantically petitioning our government to “reserve” some two dozen or so petty businesses for us nationals. In our own country? Can you imagine Liberians having to ask their government for affirmative action for their businesses in their own country? Can you imagine this situation obtaining in any other country if we as Liberians were to go there to “invest”, where their citizens would be crying out for protection from us? I believe that the “list of 26 businesses” should be expanded a hundred fold, and buttressed further with geographical restrictions and minimum turnover criteria being used to determine “no-go” areas for foreign businessmen.

We as Liberians must all share the blame for this foreign dominance of our economy. We do not help each other to succeed. Instead, we have a “crab-in-the-bucket” mentality in Liberia, pulling each other down whilst allowing the foreign business people to rise above us and prosper. We have been brainwashed into believing that every successful Liberian businessperson is a thief or a crook, and that big business is automatically reserved for foreigners, whilst Liberians are relegated to the realm of the SME’s (small to medium-sized enterprises). Why should it be this way? I believe that we will never make any real progress in Liberia until our national leadership understands that when they say that the private sector is the engine of growth of our economy, that it is the Liberian private sector that must be strengthened in order to become an instrument of sustainable growth as well as sustainable development. And I am not suggesting that foreign businesses and foreign direct investments have not and do not play an important role in our focus, neither am I suggesting that they should be excluded from our trade and commerce. What I am concerned about is their domination, to the detriment and disadvantage of nationals.

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