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Madame
president, leave the Liberianization policy alone!
Tuesday,
February 26, 2008
By Tewroh-Wehtoe Sungbeh
Like
football to the world, small business is a
Liberian past time (hard to believe, isn't it?) but rich in tradition, courage and a
dogged determination to be independent and successful
in a country with little or no opportunities for its
citizens.
It
is one of those things Liberians don't get credit for
since they are seen as beggars and un-businesslike
always soliciting handouts from anybody in sight,
and from family members overseas who have to deal
with the constant ringing of the cell phone or land
line from relatives and loved ones pleading for
financial assistance.
The
plea for financial assistance is done either to buy
food or to start some kind of a business, and because
of hard times and the struggle to survive in Liberia
the money that was meant to start the business often
ends up in the pot feeding children, relatives and
distant relatives who are also struggling in the new
Liberia.
Those that finally go the small business route with
little success are also proud to put food on the table, sent
their kids to school and take care of family members
who wouldn't have made it had it not been for papa,
mama, aunty, uncle, grandma or grandpa selling on
street corners and in front of homes, stores, open
markets and where ever he or she can legally peddle
their goods to sustain themselves and their families
daily.
On
a given day of course, Yanna boys (vendors), club beer
distributors, wheel barrow boys, market men and women
are known to hustle throughout metro Monrovia and in
other major parts of the country selling, buying and
selling whatever they can get their hands on to earn a
living, in a country where only the strong can survive
the human suffering that has taken a toll on Liberians
who would rather remain in their own country and
suffer than travel to another country to died and be
buried as another statistic of the civil war.
While
these Liberians are doing all they can to earn an
honest living, one thing for sure that has eluded them
in all these years is for them to do what they do best
on a grand scale – that is to move away from petty
trading and be included on the incredibly profitable
business playing field to compete with the big boys or
girls (if there are any girls) mainly foreigners, in
an environment that has seen a rise in the need for
investors and suppliers of goods into the Liberian
market since President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf came to
power in 2005, but has left Liberians still playing
second fiddle or no fiddle at all to their rich and
influential counterparts.
A
casual conversation with Liberians in the United
States and other places often evoke sentiments of
wanting to do business in Liberia one day. That call
to contribute to society to create jobs and put money
back into the economy, speaks of the pride Liberians
have for their country, which could possibly fall
apart if the Legislature adhere to President
Sirleaf’s wish list of repealing a portion of the
law that sets aside 26 exclusive businesses for
Liberians, made possible by the Investment Incentive
Act of 1973, which President Sirleaf admitted she once
championed intended to empower those
Liberian-owned businesses to be given a priority to compete for contracts
first before that particular contract is awarded to
non-Liberian business owners.
The
reason for the sudden change of heart according to the
Johnson-Sirleaf administration is to attract private
investment and capital into the country, since it is
widely believed that Liberian-owned businesses are not
capable of jolting an economy that has been affected
by negative forces including the civil war.
But at
whom expense is this going to take place? How
can it be at the expense of the Liberian people, who
have seen powerhouse visitors upon visitors entered
their country promising the nation’s leader
financial assistance, yet those promises are not
translating into practical assistance that trickles
down to the average Liberian who is crying for
financial assistance daily from relatives abroad
because life in Liberia is too hard to live, as things
are getting worse everyday.
As it is now, the administration is bent on repealing
the Liberianization policy to favor foreign-owned
businesses, because the administration knows it is
capable of winning this battle since most lawmakers
are afraid of getting in the way of this
internationally popular president so as not to be
blamed or be seen as trying to obstruct her policies it is believed could
resuscitate an ailing economy.
However,
this
is one battle the lawmakers could win if they are substantive enough to
draw a line in the sand, and mount a serious public
relations campaign that undermines the wisdom of
the president’s latest policy that strips Liberian-owned
businesses of the only protection they have that gives
them unlimited access to their share of what is being imported exclusively into the country, without having
to worry about some rich foreign business person
swallowing every opportunity that destroys their hopes
of making it in their own country.
This
is indeed one public relations battle members of the
House and Senate could win if they can successfully
challenge the president and highlight the silliness of
this policy that allows these foreign business people, many of whom are non-Negroid, whom
according to the Constitution cannot own property in
the country but can make the money and leave the
country anyway with the money, without ever answering to the laws
of the land.
What
is the reason behind such an anti-Liberian policy
anyway, when these foreign businesses that are in
charge of importing most of what the Liberian market
consumes cannot keep up with bringing goods into the
country at a faster rate? What is the wisdom behind
such a policy when prices for major
items like rice and gasoline continues to skyrocket so
much that most Liberians cannot afford to buy them?
With
a sad history of successive administrations favoring
or putting foreign businesses over Liberians
businesses, this administration is heading in the
wrong direction when it openly advocates a return to
the old days when the Lebanese, Syrians, Indians,
Pakistanis and other non-Liberians monopolized and
dominate the local business environment, in a country
with majority Liberians incapable of impacting their
own country’s economic future.
If
the government is concerned that Liberian-owned
businesses lacked the influence and economic power to resuscitate
the fledgling economy, then the government ought to
empower Liberian-owned businesses by providing them
with the necessary funds needed to compete in this very
profitable market.
The
administration can make a difference by changing its
attitude and not look down on these individuals,
because how in the world can a Liberian business move
from square one, which is the lack of financial power
to be competitive; to square two, to be a respected
player capable of making an impact when the government
of Ellen Johnson Sirleaf is working to curb the
appetite of those Liberian-owned businesses that
craves a chance to make a difference?
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