President Joseph N. Boakai has launched a US$408 million Youth Entrepreneurship Investment Bank (YEIB) to turn Liberia’s youthful population into the engine of economic transformation. Speaking at the EJS Ministerial Complex in Congo Town on Tuesday, July 22, Boakai declared that the YEIB is not just a program, but a direct investment in the survival and future of the Liberian state.
With over 60% of Liberia’s population under the age of 30, the President said the only path to sustainable peace and prosperity is one where young people become job creators, not job seekers. “This is about economic liberation. It’s about turning the tide. The YEIB gives our youth the tools, the financing, and the platform to drive real change, in agriculture, technology, and across emerging sectors,” Boakai stated.
The launch coincided with the honoring of the President and Chairman of the Africa Development Bank Group (ADBG), Dr. Akinwumi A. Adesina, whom Boakai described as a pan-African trailblazer and a friend whose legacy will outlive his tenure. “You have transformed the African Development Bank into a force for real solutions — your leadership has not just financed roads and power; it has fueled belief and opportunity,” Boakai told Adesina.
Under Adesina, the AfDB’s capital has doubled in just ten years, from $2 billion over half a century to over $4 billion in a single decade. Liberia’s slice of that progress is already visible; a US$408 million investment portfolio spanning 18 projects in critical areas such as transport, energy, agriculture, finance, and governance reform. “These are not theoretical figures. They are power lines lighting up communities, roads that end isolation and farms that feed our people and give farmers dignity,” he added.
