Liberia
Table of Contents
Liberia, officially the Republic of Liberia, is a country in West Africa bordered by Sierra Leone to its west, Guinea to its north and Ivory Coast to its east. It covers an area of 43,000 square miles and is home to a little over 4 million people. English is the official language and over thirty indigenous languages are also spoken in Liberia. Nowadays Liberia is recovering from the after effects of the civil wars and the consequent economic upheaval that were highly tragic, and since those effects left a huge impact, about 85% of the population continue to live below the international poverty line and there are continuous efforts made to improve the life and conditions of the people.
Liberia Country Information (Source: OECD) | |
---|---|
Population | 4.190 million (2012) |
GDP | $1.734 billion (2012) |
Income Level | Low |
Life Expectancy | 60 |
Improved Water Sources | 63% |
1 . PEST Analysis of Liberia
Political environment
The government of Liberia, modeled on the government of the US, is a unitary constitutional republic and representative democracy as established by the Constitution. The government has three co-equal branches of government: the executive, headed by the president; the legislative, consisting of the bicameral Legislature of Liberia, and the judicial, consisting of the Supreme Court and several lower courts. The president serves as head of government, head of state and the commander-in-chief of the Armed Forces of Liberia. By 1992, several warring factions had emerged in the Liberian civil war, all of which were absorbed in the new transitional government. After several peace accords and declining military power, there were finally agreements to the formation of a five-man transitional government. After considerable progress in negotiations conducted by the US, UN, Organization of African Unity, and the Economic Community of West African States, disarmament and demobilization of warring factions were hastily carried out and special elections were held on 19 July 1997 with the National Patriotic Party (NPP) emerging victorious. But later, unfortunately unrest continued, and by 2003, two rebel groups were challenging NPP's control of the country. In August 2003, Taylor resigned and fled the country and vice-president Moses Blah became acting president. On August 18, 2003 the warring parties signed the Accra Comprehensive Peace Agreement which marked the political end of the conflict. The international community again intervened and helped set up a transitional government, the National Transitional Government of Liberia which was led by Gyude Bryant until the Liberian general election of 2005.
Economical Environment
The Central Bank of Liberia is responsible for printing and maintaining the Liberian dollar, which is the primary form of currency in Liberia. Liberia is one of the world's poorest countries, with a formal employment rate of only 15%. GDP per capita peaked in 1980 at $496, when it was comparable to Egypt's, at that time. In 2011, the country's nominal GDP was $1.154 billion, while nominal GDP per capita stood at $297, the third-lowest in the world. Historically, the Liberian economy has depended heavily on foreign aid, foreign direct investment and exports of natural resources such as iron ore, rubber and timber. Liberia has begun exploration for offshore oil, unproven oil reserves may be in excess of one billion barrels. The government divided its offshore waters into 17 blocks and began auctioning off exploration licenses for the blocks in 2004, with further auctions in 2007 and 2009. An additional 13 ultra-deep offshore blocks were demarcated in 2011 and planned for auction. Among the companies to have won licenses are Repsol, Chevron, Anadarko and Woodside Petroleum. Due to its status as a flag of convenience, the country has the second-largest maritime registry in the world behind Panama, with 3,500 vessels registered under its flag accounting for 11% of ships worldwide. Liberia has the highest ratio of foreign direct investment to GDP in the world, with $16 billion in investment since 2006. Following the inauguration of the Sirleaf administration in 2006, the country signed several multi-billion dollar concession agreements in the iron ore and palm oil industries with numerous multinational corporations, including BHP Billiton, ArcelorMittal, and Sime Darby. Especially palm oil companies like Sime Darby and Golden Veroleum are being accused by critics of the destruction of livelihoods and the displacement of local communities, enabled through government concessions
Social Environment
The civil war has undoubtedly dealt a devastating blow to the Liberian economy. The percent of Liberians living below the poverty line in 2004 was an alarming 80%. One possible explanation for the high poverty rate in the country is that there are many internally displaced persons who fled the various regions in Liberia and settled in Monrovia, swelling the city’s population to well over a million people. Most of them are uneducated, and have no valuable skills; they are unable to compete in the already scarce job market. Also, the unemployment rate in 2003 was a staggering 85%. In addition, the government, which was the largest employer in the country, can no longer hire a workforce as large as in the past. There are currently very few employment opportunities in the country.
Technological Environment
There are six major newspapers in Liberia, and 45% of the population has a mobile phone service. Much of Liberia's communications infrastructure was destroyed or plundered during the two civil wars that spanned from 1989 to 1996 and then again from 1999 to 2003. With low rates of adult literacy and high poverty rates, television and newspaper use is limited, leaving radio as the predominant means of communicating with the public. The Ministry of Land, Mines, and Energy of the Cabinet of Liberia handles the energy sector in Liberia. In 2011, the Rural and Renewable Energy Agency supported by the World Bank’s AFREA trust fund was implemented in order to increase the energy supply of Liberia. In 2010, the literacy rate of Liberia was estimated at roughly around 61%. Higher education is provided by a number of public and private universities. The University of Liberia is the country's largest and oldest university.
2 . Future Trends in Liberia
Healthcare is the biggest priority currently. The Hospitals in Liberia include the John F. Kennedy Medical Center in Monrovia and several others. Life expectancy in Liberia is estimated to be around 60 years in 2012. With a fertility rate of 5.9 births per woman, the maternal mortality rate stood at 990 per 100,000 births in 2010. Liberia imports 90% of its rice, a staple food, and is extremely vulnerable to food shortages. In 2007, 20.4% of children under the age of 5 were malnourished. In 2008, only 17% of the population had access to adequate sanitation facilities. Civil war strife ended in 2003 after destroying approximately 95% of the country's healthcare facilities. In 2009, government expenditure on health care per capita was $22, accounting for 10.6% of total GDP. In 2008, Liberia had only 1 doctor and 27 nurses per 100,000 people. And in 2014 there was an outbreak of Ebola virus in Liberia, which had originated in neighboring Guinea, and there have been continuous efforts made to get the situation under control.