Gov’t Creates Wealth For Liberians The Government of Liberia has taken a major step to create wealth for ordinary Liberians when it officially announced that it was relinquishing 200k plus shares it owns in the cement company, CEMENCO for Liberians to buy. Making the milestone announcement Thursday in Monrovia, Finance Minister Amara Konneh said “We are here today to take another major step in the economic transformation drive of the Government under the leadership of President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf.” According to Minister Konneh, since taking over the affairs of state, President Sirleaf has consistently advocated that “we put Liberians in charge of the economy. Therefore, it is time that we begin to create wealth for ordinary Liberians and the President has instructed that we carry out, faithfully, various programs to ensure that Liberians benefit from the fruits of the economy.” Minister Konneh said government is taking the bold step to divest its share in CEMENCO to ordinary Liberians who are interested in acquiring those shares. According to him, by transferring Government’s shares to Liberians, who are the the real owners, they will have the opportunity to share in the profits that CEMENCO is enjoying as a result of investing in Liberia. The Government has hired the services of Liberia Bank for Development and Investment (LBDI) to undertake this divesture of nearly 200,000 shares to ordinary Liberians. Minister Konneh asserted that the details of the offerings will be disclosed in a series of advertisements in the local dailies and radios. “One thing we have made abundantly clear is that no one Liberian can buy more than 15% of the total share offerings, the Treasury Chief cautioned. He said government is encouraging ordinary Liberians; market women, yana boys, school teachers, nurses, doctors, trade men and women and Liberians from all walks of live to take advantage of this divesture. “When more Liberians own a part of these investments, it generates a wealth protection safety net that can run across several generations,” the young Minister said at the news conference held at the LBDI conference room. Meanwhile, Minister Konneh has disclosed that President Sireaf has instructed that “we ensure this exercise is not monopolized by any one group of Liberians, with wealth or authority, as this program is critical to her vision of creating a middle class in our society consistent with the National Vision 2030 and the Agenda for Transformation.” In both policy frameworks, he said, the government has articulated the need to empower Liberians through entrepreneurship, build markets and support light manufacturing industries. “While progress has been in the incubation mood, largely due to gradually maturation of our large investment programs, including energy, roads and other infrastructure, we are gradually moving in the right direction to ensure more opportunities are created for our people as we embark on our national development agenda.” He assured the public that Government is serious about creating wealth for Liberians and putting them in charge of the economy. According to him, in the next few days, “we will be announcing several other initiatives geared towards re-enforcing the President’s desire to see more wealthy Liberians.”
Posted on: Tue, 19 Nov 2013 14:01:21 +0000
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