Liberia: 'Yanaboys', Market Women Can Now Own Shares in CEMENCO

The Government of Liberia must truly mean business this time around. It has announced that consistent with its policy to create wealth for Liberians, it will be undertaking series of divestitures of its interest in major income earning companies, beginning with the country's sole cement producer -- CEMENCO.

Disclosing this to the public this week, Finance Minister Amara Konneh recalled that this exercise was kicked into motion last week. The government has hired the services of Liberia Bank for Development and Investment (LBDI) to divert 200,000  of its shares in CEMENCO to ordinary Liberians.

According to government, this goes to show President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf's commitment to ensuring that ordinary Liberians share in the wealth of the nation.

"By transferring Government’s shares to Liberians, the real owners, they will have the opportunity to share in the profits that CEMENCO is enjoying as a result of investing in Liberia. The details of the offerings will be disclosed in a series of advertisements in the local dailies and radios," Minister Konneh said. "One thing we have made abundantly clear is that no one Liberia can buy more than 15% of the total share offerings. In this direction, we encourage ordinary Liberians; market women, yana boys, school teachers, nurses, doctors, trade men and women and Liberians from all walks of life to take advantage of this divesture." 

He continued: "When more Liberians own a part of these investments, it generates a wealth protection safety net that can run across several generations. The President has instructed that we ensure this exercise is not monopolized by any one group of Liberians, with wealth or authority, as this program is critical to her vision of creating a middle class in our society consistent with the National Vision 2030 and the Agenda for Transformation."