-After West Wing Meetings, Foreign Minister Nyanti Outlines a Partnership Track on Migration, Critical Minerals, and Investment, Citing Broad International Backing for Liberia’s Security Council Role
MONROVIA — Foreign Minister Sara Beysolow-Nyanti said Monday, October 20, that her recent West Wing engagement should be viewed not as a standalone event but as part of a sustained diplomatic push to reposition Liberia internationally, anchored in President Joseph Nyuma Boakai’s economic diplomacy agenda and renewed multilateral outreach.
“What you see in the press in relation to the meeting I just had at the White House is not an event. It’s part of a journey. It’s part of a process,” Nyanti told reporters, flanked by Deputy Ministers Cllr. Deweh Gray and Dr. Ibrahim Nyei and Assistant Minister Saywah Gbaa.
White House Engagement Part of a Journey
Nyanti said the effort traces back to the transition period after Boakai’s election, when he traveled to Washington, D.C., met with the State Department, and “articulated Liberia’s interest in deepening the relationship between Liberia and the United States.” The objective, she added, is to “reposition Liberia and ensure that Liberia takes her place in the comity of nations.”
Economic Diplomacy at the Core Calling
Boakai the “chief architect” of foreign policy, Nyanti said the administration has placed economic diplomacy—focused on trade and investment—at the center of its international engagement to help create jobs and attract capital. “Liberia is open for business,” she said, positioning the Ministry as a connector for investors and partner governments while domestic agencies execute trade and investment programs.
Historic UN Security Council Mandate
Nyanti described a revamped campaign for a nonpermanent UN Security Council seat that targeted presidents and foreign ministers through coordinated outreach by Boakai, current and former foreign ministers, and Liberia’s diplomatic corps. “As you know, Liberia did not only get the minimum votes, we got 181 votes,” she said, calling it the first time Liberia secured the full UN General Assembly mandate for a two-year term. By contrast, she noted, an earlier bid failed to reach the two-thirds threshold and resulted in a one-year split with Ireland “after weeks of voting.”
UNGA Engagements Triple Year-on-Year
The Security Council win has become a “lever” for broader diplomacy, Nyanti said. At this year’s UN General Assembly, the Liberian delegation logged more than 130 engagements across the President, Foreign Minister, cabinet and deputy ministers, and the Permanent Mission—“three times more than what we had in 2024,” she said. “Everyone wanted to know our position,” she added, noting some talks spilled over into follow-up meetings in other capitals.
Inside the July White House Session
Offering detail from a July meeting where Boakai was among five presidents to meet U.S. President Donald Trump, Nyanti said Boakai was “the only president” who asked for his foreign minister to speak. “I spoke for five to seven minutes in exchange with President Trump,” she said, reinforcing Boakai’s points on critical minerals, maritime security, regional cooperation through the Mano River Union, and Liberia’s Security Council role. She said the exchange helped build confidence and paved the way for subsequent U.S. engagements.
U.S. Track: From State Department Talks to West Wing Follow-Up
Nyanti linked her latest West Wing meeting to a series of earlier engagements, including a May 21 discussion at the State Department with Deputy Secretary of State Christopher Landau that explored immigration and migration and alignment between U.S. “commercial diplomacy” and Liberia’s economic diplomacy. Ambassador Al-Hassan Conteh joined that session, she said.
She also referenced “sitting across the table with Marco Rubio in the White House in the West Wing,” describing it—along with exchanges with the Secretary of State and the National Security Advisor—as a continuation of ongoing discussions.
Migration, Critical Minerals, Jobs Top Agenda
Nyanti said she was the only African participant on a Sept. 25 panel with Deputy Secretary Landau on asylum and migration, where she argued migration is a global challenge requiring “shared responsibility and shared solutions,” noting Africa’s intra-regional movements.
Her most recent U.S. meetings focused on “migration challenges,” “critical minerals job creation,” and Liberia’s priorities for its Security Council term—areas where she said Liberia aims to “work together with the U.S. and others.”
Broad International Backing
Nyanti said Liberia’s Security Council bid and intensified diplomacy have drawn support from “many countries,” including the European Union and EU member states. The goal, she emphasized, is for Liberia to be “not a problem for the world, but a problem solver for the world,” with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs working in concert with ambassadors and the broader cabinet to “lift Liberia to where Liberia should be.”
