Liberia

Why trade or invest in Liberia?

Liberia, officially the Republic of Liberia, is a country on the West African coast. It is bordered by Sierra Leone to its northwest, Guinea to its north, Ivory Coast to its east, and the Atlantic Ocean to its south-southwest. It covers an area of 111,369 square kilometres (43,000 sq mi) and has a population of around 4,900,000. English is the official language, but over 20 indigenous languages are spoken, representing the numerous ethnic groups who make up more than 95% of the population. The country's capital and largest city is Monrovia.

Upon the end of the war in 2003, GDP growth began to accelerate, reaching 9.4% in 2007. The global financial crisis slowed GDP growth to 4.6% in 2009, though a strengthening agricultural sector led by rubber and timber exports increased growth to 5.1% in 2010 and an expected 7.3% in 2011, making the economy one of the 20 fastest growing in the world.

In March 2010, Bob Johnson, founder of BET, funded the first hotel constructed in Liberia in 20 years. The 13-acre (53,000 m2) luxury resort was built in the Paynesville section of Monrovia.

Economy

Liberia's business sector is largely controlled by foreigners mainly of Lebanese and Indian descent. There also are limited numbers of Chinese engaged in agriculture. The largest timber concession, Oriental Timber Corporation (OTC), is Indonesian owned. There also are significant numbers of West Africans engaged in cross-border trade. Legal monopolies are possible; for example, Cemenco holds a monopoly on cement production.

Unlike almost all other countries in the world, Liberia has not adopted the metric system as its primary system of measurement.

Forestry

Timber and rubber are Liberia's main export items since the end of the war. Liberia earns more than $100 million and more than $70 million annually from timber and rubber exports, respectively.

Mining and resources

Alluvial diamond and gold mining activities also account for some economic activity. In recent years (2005 - 2012), foreign investment from ArcelorMittal Steel, BHP Biliton, and China Union is aiding the revitalization of the iron-ore mining sector.

Liberia has begun exploration for offshore oil; unproven oil reserves may be in excess of one billion barrels. The government divided its offshore waters into 17 blocks and began auctioning off exploration licenses for the blocks in 2004, with further auctions in 2007 and 2009. An additional 13 ultra-deep offshore blocks were demarcated in 2011 and planned for auction. Among the companies to have won licenses are Repsol YPF, Chevron Corporation, and Woodside Petroleum.

Shipping flag of convenience

Liberia maintains an open maritime registry, meaning that owners of ships can register their vessels as Liberian with relatively few restrictions. This has meant that Liberian ship registration is usually understood as the employment of a flag of convenience. Liberia has the second-largest maritime registry in the world behind Panama, with 4,300 vessels registered under its flag accounting for 12% of ships worldwide.This includes 35% of the world's tanker fleet. Liberia earned more than $18 million from its maritime program in 2000.

(credit wikipedia)

Whom we work for

A-Law experienced lawyers welcome all clients in need of legal advice including legal defense with regard to the investment and trade projects in or from Liberia.  Guiding foreign investors into the Liberian corporate and bank regulations, license requests and public procurement policies may constitute a challenge on its own.

A-Law has built up this expertise as well as provided multiple legal services to Liberian companies providing engineering, IT, construction, logistics services in other EU and non EU countries involving i.a. tax, labor, migration and IP issues.  A-Law Liberia desk has been providing legal support to clients in different areas, such as real estate issues, corporate and civil (family) law, traffic law, migration law, liability law and debts recovery (bankruptcy, administrative fines).

An in-depth approach of the different legal aspects of cross border cooperation and trade, commercial agency, distribution and franchising of a wide variety of products exported from or imported into Liberia have been assessed through A-Law dedicated team.