The Minister of Finance and Development Planning (MFDP) Augustine K. Ngafuan says that the cancellation of the US$17 million USAID-sponsored project and other projects in the country will have a direct and indirect impact on the country’s development.
Speaking on Voice of America (VOA) Wednesday, February 19, 2025, Minister Ngafuan said that the USAID was Liberia’s second largest donor besides the World Bank, financing projects in health, education, agriculture and elections.
The Minister told the VOA that Liberia is resilient and will overcome what he described as the latest obstacle in Liberia’s development.
“The US Ambassador called me today and confirmed that this project that we call the Local Empowerment for Accountability and Decentralization Project is amongst several projects that have been cancelled by the aid cancellation program,” he said.
According to him, the US$17 million project has helped Liberia in domestic resource mobilization, adding that an agenda was set up to increase domestic revenue through the Liberia Revenue Authority (LRA).
Minister Ngafuan disclosed that USAID was Liberia’s main partner assisting the country to roll out the new tax system from the goods and service tax to value added tax by 2026; stating that it comes with training, investment and system.
Liberia’s Finance Minister said that USAID has also been providing support for Liberia’s database called Etax, which has assisted the country to improve its revenue collection in the local terrain.
Speaking about projects that have been affected by the cancellation of the US$17 million project, Minister Ngafuan named project like education, health, agriculture and election; saying, USAID was Liberia’s second largest donor and has committed more than US$443 million from 2022 to 2029 besides the World Bank.
“This year, we have concluded an agreement for support of US$120 million to benefit mainly health, agriculture and health,” he added.
He said the Ministry of Finance has concluded a report that has been submitted to the President, and will be submitted to the Legislature on the short and long term of the impact and what will be done, and MFDP will also engage partners, increase resource mobilization and engage in fiscal tightening to reduce losses amongst others.
He said Liberia is engaging new partners and looking at regional corporation, fiscal cooperation; adding that there are conversations ongoing amongst ECOWAS, AU and other partners as to what will happen collectively to reduce the impact on the country.
By Prince Saah
