PARIS, France — Finance and Development Planning Minister Augustine Kpehe Ngafuan says Liberia has reactivated steps to join the Islamic Development Bank (IsDB), a move he says will unlock new concessional financing for roads, power, SMEs, and social programs.
Ngafuan told Liberians at a Paris town hall that accession is open to non‑Islamic countries and that “things started sometime in the past, but they were not consummated.” He said he has instructed his team “to pursue and consummate that process,” adding that Liberia is engaging Middle East financiers including the Kuwaiti Fund and the Saudi Fund.
He said those lenders have formed a consortium for the Gbarnga–Mendikorma highway, with an agreement covering the Voinjama–Mendikorma segment sent to the Legislature for ratification. Funding lines are also being assembled for the Monrovia–Bo Waterside corridor, while the Salayea–Voinjama leg is next in the pipeline, he noted.
Ngafuan said works that stalled before the administration intervened have restarted and “will not stop” as government lines up financing. He added that the goal remains full asphalt connectivity from Monrovia to Harper. “What is happening now should make you proud,” he said, forecasting that next year will be “materially better than this year” as projects and reforms take hold.
