(Monrovia, Liberia): Fulfilling his Constitutional mandate as enshrined in Article 58 of the Liberian Constitution on Monday January 27, 2020, President George Manneh Weah paid special tributes to Liberia’s international development partners for standing with the government and people over the years in helping the country overcome its intractable challenges.

 

Amid applauses from the audience of lawmakers, diplomats and well-wishers assembled at the sacred occasion in the Joint Chambers of the Capitol Building, President Weah said Liberia was exceedingly proud of the immense contributions of the international community.

 

“I want to thank you, members of the International Community, our development partners,  both institutional,  bilateral and multilateral, for all that you have done for Liberia, and are still doing, to assist my government to bring development, growth, transparency, and prosperity  to the Liberian people,” the President said. 

 

He informed the Legislature that the international partners of Liberia have fully supported the vision and plans for the transformation and development of the country, including providing his government with hundreds of millions of dollars in loans and grants as well as professional advice and guidance, and technical support.

 

These efforts, Head of State Weah indicated, are making his administration’s dreams for national developments to come true in the country. 

 

President Weah said: “Many projects have already been funded and have either started, or are about to start, representing the seeds of infrastructural development which have been planted in the first season and will soon germinate and become green shoots of progress and many of which are expected to come to full bloom in the next two years thereby making a lasting and positive impact on the lives of Liberians in the near future.”

 

The Liberian President said ongoing infrastructural development in the road sector, which is highly cost intensive, is principally made possible from strong support of the country’s international development partners, lending institutions and friendly Governments. 

 

President Weah specifically named some of the partners as the Governments of the United States, Great Britain, the People’s Republic of China, Germany, Norway, Sweden, India, and Japan, among others.  

 

“We are also grateful to the European Union, the European Investment Bank, the ECOWAS Bank for Investment & Development (EBID), the Africa Export Import Bank,  the World Bank, our Arab Partners including the Saudi Fund for Development, the Kuwaiti Fund for Arab Economic Development, the Arab Bank for Economic Development in Africa (BADEA), and the OPEC Fund for International Development (OFID). KFW and the GIZ, JICA, SIDA, and most especially the African Development Bank (AfDB), who currently has the largest road infrastructure financing portfolio in our Country,” the President enumerated.

 

As the government seeks ways to advance national development, he said Government would remain engaged with partners in pursuit of this noble task.

 

Similarly, President Weah used the milestone speech to also extol local partners working to drive the government’s development agenda.

 

He said: “Permit me to also salute our construction contractors and consultants, especially our local Liberian construction contractors, who are actively participating in the transformation works of our country.”

 

The President assured these hardworking Liberians of his abiding commitment to uphold his pledge of not keeping Liberians out of the economy, stressing “This is why I note with pride and satisfaction the involvement of these local contractors which represents the surest way of ensuring sustainability of these projects in the road sector.”