According to an Executive Mansion release, the president made the statement during discussions with former British Prime Minister Tony Blair at the Executive Mansion when he paid a two-day working visit to Liberia recently.

Blair is head of the Africa Governance Initiative (AGI) which has been providing the Sirleaf government critical governance-related support in advancing its reconstruction and good governance drive.

President Sirleaf reflected on the country’s economic history, saying that Liberia has for a long period depended on the “extractive sector” like rubber and iron ore whose “shocks in prices” prompted a decline in the country’s 9.5 percent growth rate.

“This period was followed by the Ebola crisis which led to further economic problems,” she pointed out, adding, “With the aim of achieving diversification, we are now focused on agriculture with oil palm and other tree corps, particular cocoa targeted.”

The president also reflected on the visioning process that gave birth to the “Vision 2030” development program and the medium-term intervention under the Agenda
for Transformation to help the country attain middle income status.

LINA PR/JGT/TSS/PTK