⁠’Growth Has to Put Bread On the Table’: Dan Saryee Gives ‘Honest’ View On Liberia’s Economy

MONROVIA – A prominent Liberian democracy advocate , policy advisor and former government official, Dan Torkamawon Saryee, has given what he described as his honest view on Liberia’s economy.
Saryee said the Liberian economy is growing, saying that is headline and that is true.
But Saryee pointed out that he has sat with enough farmers, traders and young graduates to know that a growth number doesn’t mean much if it never reaches their pockets.
Saryee, who has been a notable voice in Liberia’s civil society, governance and public administration sectors for over two decades, told the FrontPage Africa(FPA) in an interview in Monrovia Thursday, September 3 that growth only matters if it shows up as jobs, better incomes, less hunger and a better quality of life.

By Augustus D.R Bortue-augustusd.rbortuefrontpageafricaonline.com

The former Deputy Managing Director of the Liberia Water & Sewer Corporation during the regime of former President George Manneh Weah recalled that in 2025 was a strong year on paper, driven largely by mining, with agriculture and services pulling their weight too.

Encouraging, no doubt.

‘‘But ask the average person on the street what matters and the question gets a lot more basic, a lot faster: Where are the jobs? Can I afford food, transportation, rent, school fees, and healthcare,?” he asserted.

That’s really where the conversation should start.
Saryee, who also served as Acting Director General of the Liberia Agricultural Commodity Regulatory Authority (LACRA) in President Joseph Nyuma Boakai’s Administration, noted that, ‘‘we have a real employment problem. Too many Liberians are stuck in informal work — petty trading, subsistence farming, small hustles just to get by. It keeps families afloat. It rarely gets anyone ahead. ’’

According to him, he does not say that to dismiss the market women or the roadside sellers — they’re working harder than most of us.

‘‘The point is that we need an economy where people aren’t just looking for jobs, but where businesses are actually creating jobs,’’ the prominent Liberian democracy advocate and policy advisor stated.
Agriculture should be creating jobs, not just food
Speaking further, Saryee averred that Liberia can’t fix unemployment while still treating agriculture as mostly subsistence farming, stressing ‘‘we should be producing more rice, cassava, and vegetables — more of nearly everything we grow, really — not just to feed ourselves, but to build real businesses around it.’’

‘‘Take cassava. A farmer grows it. Someone else buys it, processes it, package it, moves it, sells it — or finances and equips the people doing all of that. One crop, handled right, can quietly create a dozen jobs along the way.
That’s why we need serious investment in agro-processing, storage, transportation, irrigation, farm-to market roads and agricultural financing. Government has initiated these processes but the need to accelerate is like yesterday. The World Bank has pointed to agro-processing and expanded production as real opportunities for more inclusive growth,’’ Saryee intimated.
Let’s track business growth, not just business registration
The former LACRA boss intoned that Liberia doesn’t just need more businesses — it needs businesses that can actually grow and hire.
‘‘Recent World Bank data found that 86% of firms in the National Establishment Census were micro-sized, and nearly 89% were one-person operations. So, the real question isn’t “how many businesses do we have, it’s: How many grew from one worker to five? From five to twenty? From twenty to a hundred? That’s where the real job creation happens. Government should make it easier for legitimate small businesses to get financing, electricity, land, technology, and markets — and tie that support to results: production, compliance and jobs,’’ Saryee uttered as he expressed the hope that policymakers will consider his view on Liberian economy with constructive lenses if they must change the paradigm shift.
Government can’t be the employer of last resort

‘‘Government has a role. But let’s be honest — the public payroll was never going to be Liberia’s employment strategy, no matter how much we wish it could be. The real job of government is to create the conditions that let private businesses invest, produce and hire: reliable power, better roads, working ports, affordable financing, rules people can actually plan around,’’ he continued.
He said Liberia should also work to cushion food-price shocks by producing more locally and improving storage, transport, and processing — WFP has flagged how much risk our heavy reliance on food imports creates.
Young people need a real path to work

‘‘Our young population is one of our biggest assets — but it turns into a serious problem when people leave school with no realistic way to earn a living. We should be more aggressively expanding practical training — construction, electrical work, plumbing, welding, agribusiness, IT, healthcare support, and a dozen other trades that this country will need for decades,’’ Saryee accentuated.

‘‘But training on its own solves nothing. We can’t train people for jobs that don’t exist. It has to connect directly to employers, apprenticeships, and real projects on the ground — otherwise we’re just handing out certificates,’’ Saryee uttered.

Touching on how to deal with corruption and waste, Saryee said no economic plan works if public resources leak out through corruption, waste, poor procurement and weak accountability.

‘‘Every public dollar should be treated as money that could have built a school, fixed a road, backed a farmer, or helped launch a business. Development runs on trust. Investors need confidence, entrepreneurs need predictability and citizens need to know public resources are actually being used for the public good,’’ Saryee said.

Meanwhile, the prominent Liberian democracy advocate, policy advisor named five things to focus on right now.
1.
2.Feed Liberia — grow local food production and agro-processing.
3.Power businesses — expand reliable, affordable electricity to productive areas.
4.Finance entrepreneurs — make real financing available to businesses that can grow and hire.
5.Build market infrastructure — roads, bridges, storage, ports, electricity, and digital connectivity that link producers to markets.
6.Measure job creation — make jobs, business growth, local production, and household income the actual targets.
What success really looks like

Saryee concluded by saying Liberia shouldn’t judge its economy only by GDP growth, investment headlines or government revenue. He acknowledged that those matter, but they’re not the finish line.
He further noted that the real test is whether an ordinary Liberian can honestly say:
“I can find work.”
“My business can grow.”
“My children can eat.”
“My income is improving.”
“I have hope for tomorrow.”

‘‘We have the land, the young people, the coastline, the agricultural potential — most of what we need is already here. I don’t pretend to have every answer for how we turn that into businesses, jobs, and income. But I know what the wrong answer looks like: waiting.
The goal isn’t just a bigger economy. It’s stronger households. Because at the end of the day, this was never really about statistics. It’s about putting bread on the table,’’ he said.