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Washington DC-President Joseph Nyuma Boakai has informed Liberians that branding Liberia and transforming the society cannot be done by government alone.
The Liberian leader noted that this requires the active, sustained and intentional involvement of Liberians in the Diaspora. He called on them to put their money where their mouths are by investing in their own country.
Speaking at the two-day Diaspora Annual Conference 2025 in the United States held under the theme, “Build the Future Together: Reconciliation, National Healing, Growth and Prosperity, President Boakai assured Liberians in the Diaspora that them will not be treated as observers but as full stakeholders in the rebuilding process of the country.
President Boakai address the Diaspora Conference
The conference brought together Liberians from the United States, Europe, Australia and Canada.
He urged Liberians abroad to move from sentiment to action, encouraging them to contribute capital, share skills, and collaborate with his government on a reform agenda aimed at rebuilding institutions, decentralizing power, and expanding opportunities after years of stagnation.
“We may build infrastructure and superstructures, but without true reconciliation and healing, all those will come crashing down,” he said. He asked Liberians abroad to “lend their voices to reconciliation and national healing. Many of our fellow Liberians have carried their pain in silence with little space for dialogue or closure,” President Boakai noted.
The president tied governance reform to economic inclusion, arguing that Liberia’s long reliance on extractive concessions “supported growth without development” because profits were not reinvested in health, education, roads and jobs.
“We must replace growth with development, growth that delivers development,” Boakai said. He promised to “reconsider the concession regime,” promote local ownership and expand agriculture, where “the majority of our people, especially women and youth, can be engaged.”
Delegates at the Diaspora Liberians conference
Boakai said his administration “inherited a country facing far more problems than we could resolve overnight”, from a faltering economy to weakened rule of law, but insisted early steps are taking hold. He pointed to a new performance management and compliance system for ministries and agencies, anti-corruption efforts, and a push to align budgets and service delivery with his ARREST agenda, which prioritizes agriculture, roads, rule of law, education, sanitation and tourism.
The Liberian President reminded delegates at the conference that, good governance requires accountability, transparency and respect for the will of the people adding that coming constitutional reforms will pursue decentralization and stronger local government. He added, “Our economy must be inclusive and work for everyone.”
Serving as Keynote Speaker, the former Foreign Minister of Rwanda and ex-ambassador to Japan, Professor Charles Murigande, offered a blunt roadmap from post-conflict recovery to national renewal, drawing on Rwanda’s experience after the 1994 genocide.
He informed the conference that when a nation builds its politics on division, discrimination and exclusion, the result is not just inequality. “It can escalate into catastrophic violence,” Murigande said.
He said Rwanda’s recovery flowed from three deliberate choices adding, “We chose to stay together” under a government of national unity that punished revenge killings; “we chose accountable and transparent governance” that decentralized power and fought corruption; and “we chose to think big,” investing in health, education, technology and infrastructure under long-term national visions.
He noted, “Liberia needs you now. He shared how he left a comfortable research post abroad to return home on a fraction of the pay. “If Rwanda could rise from genocide to global respect, surely Liberia-with its proud history, rich resources, resilient people and vibrant diaspora-can build a future of unity, justice and prosperity.”
Throughout the program, diaspora leaders pressed for practical fixes that would make engagement easier: the opening of consulates to serve growing Liberian communities in Australia and across Nordic Europe, faster access to passports and civil documents in Canada and Europe, and streamlined investment channels.
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