Monrovia- November 25, 2021: USAID Liberia Mission Director Jim Wright on Wednesday, November 24, 2021, said that illicit natural resource financing and trade is a serious problem that robs Liberia of money it needs to fund its development agenda and address extreme poverty and social vulnerability. He spoke at a national dialogue on illicit financing in the natural resource sector in Monrovia organized by the Governance Commission.

Wright said the situation was dire, with some reports showing that illicit trade accounts for 80 percent of all forestry sector trade in Liberia. But he added that there were some concrete steps Liberia has taken to address the problem. He pointed to initiatives by the Liberia Extractive Industry Transparency Initiative to increase transparency of revenue generation in the extractive sector.

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He also noted efforts by the Forestry Development Authority, with USAID’s support, to enforce laws more vigorously against illegal logging, mining, and hunting activities.

The USAID Mission Director also recognized other efforts supported by USAID, including enhanced revenue collection processes, that have reduced loss of Government of Liberia revenues. But he said these gains need to be sustained so that Liberia can stem illicit natural resource financing and trade and the revenue leakage they create. U.S. Embassy Monrovia, Liberia