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Report on African Regional Dialogue on Aid, Debt & Development - 11-12 September 2006 Monrovia, Liberia
African Forum and Network on Debt and Development (AFRODAD)
October 13, 2006

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Introduction
Liberia is an English-speaking country historically founded in 1867 when former slaves from the United States of America settled there. Today Liberia has an estimated population of 3.3 million people and has just emerged from a 14-year conflict. The new era dawned following the signing of a Peace Agreement in 2003 paving way for the first democratic elections that ushered into power Ms Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf's government in October 2005 - in turn making her the first female elected African President. The government is faced with the daunting task of post-war rehabilitation of community services and restoring productive livelihoods. Unfortunately, Liberia is also saddled with a huge public debt burden of US$3.7 billion, accumulated over the conflict period. Put into perspective, the Net Present Value (NPV) of the external debt was 800% and 3000% of GDP and export earnings respectively as of September 2006! Domestic debt stood at US$700 million, which represents 5.5 times the projected government revenue for the year 2006. The Liberian Government is currently making monthly payments of US$60 000, $25 000 and $15 000 to the International Monetary Fund (IMF), World Bank (WB) and African Development Bank (AfDB) respectively, to pave way for possible debt relief under the Multilateral Debt Relief Initiative (MDRI) Framework.

For a country where an estimated 76% of the population are living below the poverty datum line, 85% of the productive population is unemployed, 71% are illiterate and the life expectancy is only 39 years and there is an urgent need to rehabilitate the critical infrastructure including roads, schools, health centers, water and sanitation - the debt per capita of around US$1 000 is unsustainable. Although Liberia is one of the potential beneficiaries of the MDRI, the probability that the country will reach the Highly Indebted Poor Countries' (HIPC) Completion Point as set by the International Financial Institutions (IFIs) before much damage and harm is almost zero. There is compelling evidence that Liberia's debt must be immediately and unconditionally cancelled to pave way for post reconstruction and development.

It was against this background that the African Forum and Network for Debt and Development (AFRODAD) and the Liberian Centre for Democratic Empowerment (CEDE) organized this African Regional Dialogue with a view of paving way to a sustained Civil Society Organizations' (CSO) collaboration in the fight for Justice in Liberia. The meeting was held in Liberia's capital, Monrovia, and attended by 65 participants representing 13 countries including Malawi, Kenya, Nigeria, Ghana, Sierra Leone, Democratic Republic of Congo, Belgium, Liberia and Zimbabwe.

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