-As Ngafuan Was Instrumental in Getting Liberia’s Billions of Dollars Debt Waived by International Community
By Alaskai Moore Johnson, alaskaijohnson@gmail.com +231-777-889-870 / +231-886-631-025
President Joseph Nyuma Boakai has appointed former Foreign Minister Augustine Kpehe Ngafuan as the new Minister of Finance and Development Planning. When Ngafuan is confirmed by the Liberian Senate, he will replace Mr. Boima Kamara, who resigned from the post due to ill health back in July 2024.
Pres. Boakai’s decision to bring back Ngafuan to the Finance and Development Planning Ministry is strategic as the former Finance Minister was very instrumental in helping Liberia get its over US$4 billion debt waived by the international community.
Probably one of Ngafuan’s tasks will be to tackle Liberia’s rising debt burden again.
Addressing a Ministry of Information press brifing on Tuesday, August 27, Deputy Finance Minister for Economic Management, Mr. Dehpue Zuo, disclosed that the last regime under former President George Weah, borrowed over US$2 billion.
By October 2023, when the Weah administration’s term ended, Liberia’s total public debt had risen to approximately US$2.21 billion. This debt consisted of US$1.26 billion in external debt, which accounted for 56.99% of the total debt stock. Most of this debt was owed to multilateral creditors, with US$1.15 billion owed to institutions such as the World Bank and the African Development Bank. The remaining USD 111.80 million was owed to bilateral creditors, primarily foreign governments. The domestic debt at the end of the Weah administration was US$951.75 million, making up 43.01% of the total debt. The Central Bank of Liberia emerged as the largest domestic creditor, holding US$630.48 million of this debt. Commercial banks held US$192.87 million, while other institutions and contractors accounted for the remaining US$121.50 million.
During the press briefing, Zuo stated that the Boakai-Koung regime inherited a total debt of US$2.6 billion from the Weah-Taylor Administration, stressing that the figures prove that the debts accumulated by the Weah-led Administration in the last six years surpass those inherited from the Sirleaf-Boakai regime over 12 years.
It was during Ngafuan’s tenure at the Finance Ministry from 2008 to 2012, that Liberia became relief of debt burden. But in just 12 years, Liberia’s debt has climbed in billions of dollars. It will be among Ngafuan’s tasks to solve this problem.
He had worked in a number of high financial positions before he was appointed to the post of Finance Minister in August 2008 by former President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf. President Sirleaf reappointed him in 2012 as the Minister of Foreign Affairs. Now he is returning to the Finance Ministry having been appointed again in August 2024 by President Boakai, who served as Ellen’s Vice President for 12 years.
Before he was appointed by Ellen, Ngafuan had served at the Central Bank of Liberia where he rose through the ranks from Bank Examiner to Senior Banking Analyst and, finally, to the position of Head of International Banking. In January 2006, he was appointed by President Sirleaf as Budget Director of the Republic of Liberia.
Mr. Ngafuan has had a very accomplished career also in the international financial sector. He served as the African Development Bank County Manager for Uganda, where he managed over one billion US dollars in aids to that East African nation.
The national budget of the West African nation–Liberia, which has a population of almost 5.3 million, is a little over half a billion dollar and yet to reach the billion-dollar figure.
Liberia’s previous national budgets have fallen short of this billion-dollar milestone, with the recent fiscal year 2021/2022 budget standing at approximately US$785.6 million, and the fiscal year 2022/2023 budget around US$806.5 million.
Following a Special Cabinet meeting on August 15, 2024, at the Executive Mansion, Information Minister Jerolinmek M. Piah disclosed that President Boakai’s Administration is setting out an ambitious target of US$1 billion for the upcoming national budget.
Managing such amount won’t be of any trouble to Ngaf, as Ngafuan is affectionately refer to by close associates and his peers.
A Profile of Augustine Kpehe Ngafuan, then Minister of Foreign Affairs. This profile was published by the Images Magazine in 2014 when Ngafuan was still the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Liberia
Early Life and Education
Augustine Kpehe Ngafuan is a respected Liberian professional, intellectual and political actor with several meritoriously achieved accolades to his credit. He was born in Monrovia on 7 April 1970, and hails from the Kolahun District, in northern Lofa County. As a young student leader studying Accounting at the Booker Washington Institute (BWI) in the ’80s, he emerged as one of three students – the other two were Indian students attending St. Patrick’s High School – who won the West African Examinations Council’s (WAEC) 1989 Merit Award for scoring the highest marks in the exams nationwide. In fact, his 87% score in Science in the 1989 WAEC Exams was the highest nationwide. He also graduated as Valedictorian of the Class of 1989 from the Booker Washington Institute (BWI), earning a diploma in Accounting. Ngafuan entered the University of Liberia in 1990 in pursuit of a Bachelor’s degree in Accounting and Economics. However, due to the intermittent episodes of the Liberian civil war, which interrupted the academic life of students of the University, coupled with scanty support from the Government of Liberia to the University of Liberia, Ngafuan earned his degree in February 2000 with the highest academic distinction – summa cum laude. While still a university student, Ngafuan used his time to capacitate himself on multiple fronts. In 1998, he received a Certificate in Democratic Leadership from the African Leadership Forum, founded by former Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo. In 1999, he earned a Certificate in Alternative Dispute Resolution from the University of Sacramento, in California, USA. In 2002, while serving as a Banking Analyst at the Central Bank of Liberia, Hon. Ngafuan enrolled in the William E. Simon Graduate School of Business Administration, University of Rochester, in New York, USA, where he earned a solid MBA in Finance and Accounting in June 2004.
Political Life
Hon. Ngafuan has been politically active since his high school days. He served as Interim Student Leader of the Booker Washington Institute in 1988, and was elected in the same year as Vice President of the Student Government. In April 1998, Ngafuan was elected President of the University of Liberia Student (ULSU), a position he held until February 2000. Leading nearly 10,000 students at the nation’s highest institution of learning – an institution often dubbed the “microcosm of Liberian society” – Ngafuan’s mandate was not only to promote the interest of students, but also to defend social justice, press freedom, inclusive democracy, and political liberties in Liberia. Many still remember the indomitable courage and visionary comments of the young student leader when, in 1998, he spoke truth to power at the Unity Conference Center during the Vision 2024 Conference chaired by former Liberian President Charles Taylor. Concerned about the rapidly deteriorating political situation, the young student leader expressed qualms about the manner in which ECOMOG peacekeepers were made to leave Liberia, the lack of justice in the murder case of former Liberian politician Samuel Dokie, and the rising climate of fear, among a host of other concerns. Challenging President Taylor’s record on reconciliation, the young Ngafuan asked President Taylor a few pointed questions: “Mr. President, where are Alhaji Kromah, Roosevelt Johnson, Prince Johnson, former Vice President Harry Moniba, Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, Henry Fahnbulleh, Amos Sawyer, etc? Wherever they are, are they safe to return, or would you be safe with their return?” Mr. President, are we truly reconciled?” Speaking almost prophetically, the courageous student leader continued: “Mr. President, if we don’t take more tangible actions on the path of reconciliation, I fear that all the visions that we are crafting here will collapse like a pack of cards!” With such popular stature and vast political acumen, Ngafuan was a natural fit to organize and lead the Youths for Ellen Presidency (YEP), comprising thousands of young people nationwide who felt that, among the 22 presidential contenders in the 2005 Presidential Elections, Mrs. Ellen Johnson Sirleaf represented the best choice for Liberia. While serving as Chairman of YEP, he also doubled as Spokesperson of the Unity Party Campaign Team in the 2005 Elections. Again, in 2011, he was a key figure in the Unity Party Campaign Team which secured a second term for President Sirleaf.
Professional Career, Successes and Achievements
Beginning in 1988, with a six-month internship in the Accounts Division of the Liberia Petroleum Refining Company (LPRC) as a requirement to earning a diploma in Accounting at the Booker Washington Institute, Honorable Ngafuan has had a distinguished professional career. During the 1997 Presidential and General Elections, he served as Senior Civic Education Officer for Bong County with the Independent Elections Commission. His distinguished academic performance at the UL earned him automatic employment with the Central Bank of Liberia. He rose through the ranks from Bank Examiner to Senior Banking Analyst and, finally, to the position of Head of International Banking. In January 2006, he was appointed by President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf as Budget Director of the Republic of Liberia. In August 2008, he was appointed Minister of Finance, a position he successfully held until February 2012 when he assumed his present position as Minister of Foreign Affairs and Dean of the Cabinet. As Budget Director of Liberia, Ngafuan lifted the veil of secrecy around the National Budget by making it a truly public document. He created awareness around the budget process on radio talk shows and at Hatai shops and in other interactive fora in Monrovia and across the country. He brought discipline, integrity, and predictability around the entire budget process, earning the admiration of many, including many critics who initially doubted his ability to perform because of his age. When elevated to the position of Minister of Finance in 2008, he became the youngest Finance Minister across the entire African continent. As Finance Minister he simultaneously served as Liberia’s Governor to the Boards of Governors of the IMF, the World Bank and the African Development Bank (ADB). Hon. Ngafuan chaired the AfDB Constituency, comprising Liberia, Ghana, The Gambia, Sudan and Sierra Leone from 2010 up to end of his service as Minister of Finance. In his capacity as Governor of Liberia at the African Development Bank, Ngafuan was one of three African Finance Ministers selected by Bank President Donald Kaberuka to participate in Consultative Meetings for the 12th Replenishment of Resources of the African Development Fund (ADF12). In a 29 November 2010 letter of appreciation, Bank President Kaberuka wrote: “The timely and succinct intervention you made during [our] meetings helped the Bank present a strong case for the selected and focused areas of intervention under the ADF-12. With your assistance, ADF Deputies agreed on a replenishment level of US$9.5 billion over the next three years (2011-2013), a 10.6 percent increase in donor contributions over the ADF-11. We remain convinced that beyond this noble mission, which you accomplished so admirably, we can continue to count on your wise and valuable counsel.” Hon. Ngafuan was elected Chair of the Board of Directors of the Liberia Bank for Development and Investment (LBDI) in 2010, until his transition to the position of Minister of Foreign Affairs. His achievements as Minister of Finance were numerous, ranging from expanding the revenue base from a little over US$100 million to US$500 million; to the introduction of scores of reforms, including spearheading the crafting and ensuring the passage of the much-touted Public Financial Management (PFM) Law, which clearly lays out the roles and responsibilities of major actors in public financial management, as well as providing the legal basis for introduction of the Medium Term Expenditure Framework (MTEF). He automated business processes at the Ministry of Finance as a way of enhancing efficiency and transparency. On the revenue side, he introduced the ASYCUDA software, and on the budget and expenditure sides he introduced the Integrated Financial Management Information System (IFMIS). The Direct Deposit Program whereby Government employees are paid directly to their accounts at commercial banks was introduced in 2009 by the Ngafuan administration. This brought much desired convenience to civil servants, and dealt significantly with the intractable problems of ghost names on Government’s payroll. The introduction of a Public Sector Accounting System (IPSAS) by the Government of Liberia through the Ministry of Finance in 2009 was significant because it was the first time in the nation’s history that accounting standards were formally introduced across Government. Perhaps the most towering of all of Hon. Ngafuan’s achievements at Finance was his skillful leadership of the Liberian Government’s efforts which culminated in the successful cancellation of nearly US$5 billion in external debt through the Heavily InCover Story IMAGES Magazine | April – May 2014 | 15 debted Poor Countries (HIPC) Initiative. This remarkable feat, of debt cancellation by reaching the HIPC Completion Point, was achieved in record time, distinguishing Liberia as one of the fastest HIPC achievers. In his current portfolio as Minister of Foreign Affairs and Dean of the Liberian Cabinet, Hon. Ngafuan has led the Foreign Ministry of Foreign Affairs in undertaking positive engagements with all friendly countries and peoples of the world, particularly with those nations having diplomatic representation near Monrovia. Through his remarkable foresight and diplomatic adeptness, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs successfully finalized several important bilateral agreements which, when brought to fruition, will significantly impact economic development in Liberia. The most significant agreements which Hon. Ngafuan has negotiated and signed, in furtherance of Government’s Development Diplomacy Agenda, include: the landmark US$60 million agreement with the Chinese Government for the construction of a modern Ministerial Complex intended to house ten government ministries and agencies; and a US$50 million agreement with the Japanese Government for the expansion of Somalia Drive to a four-lane, paved expressway. When completed, the Ministerial Complex will be the second largest Chinese office infrastructure in Africa, second only to African Union Headquarters in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. Since Minister Ngafuan took the helm of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Liberia’s bilateral relations have improved significantly, with several friendly nations opening embassies in Monrovia with resident-accredited ambassadors. These include: the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, Sweden, Brazil, and the State of Qatar. Hon. Ngafuan has also helped spur tremendous improvement in relations with Indonesia, Kuwait, Qatar, and now with the United Arab Emirates, with implications for huge economic benefits and technical assistance to Liberia. The mature and skillful manner in which he managed the simmering tensions brewing between Liberia and Côte d’Ivoire, triggered by deadly cross-border raids into Ivorian territory, attests to his innate diplomatic skills. Through an initiative called the Quadripartite Framework, which involved the two governments as well as the peacekeeping missions in both countries, all of the stakeholders have agreed to a host of measures that have occasioned the stabilization of the border region and the launch of confidence-building meetings involving chiefs and elders of the two countries. With guidance from the Chief Architect of Liberia’s foreign policy, President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, Hon. Ngafuan has represented the President at high-level meetings of ECOWAS, the African Union, and a host of other for a, including the France-Africa Summit hosted by French President François Hollande in December 2013. He has successfully shepherded three important political framework engagements – namely, the U.S.-Liberia Partnership Dialogue, the EU-Liberia Political Dialogue, and the Japan-Liberia Dialogue Engagement – which promise to boost improvements in agriculture, infrastructure and power, human development and other areas, as well as solidify the relationship between Liberia and these partners.
Awards
Hon. Ngafuan is a proud recipient of numerous awards and certificates of achievement for excellence in his academic, professional, political and literary life. The West African Examinations Council (WAEC) Merit Award for Academic Excellence, awarded in 1989 for being one of three students who topped the WAEC country-wide exams in 1989, and the Certificate of Honor in 2000 from the J.J. Roberts Educational Foundation for graduating summa cum laude from the University of Liberia, are among the scores of academic awards Hon. Ngafuan has to his credit. For demonstrating principled and courageous leadership as President of the University of Liberia Student Union (ULSU), Ngafuan was named by the Inquirer Newspaper in 1998 as Student Activist of the Year. Ngafuan is one of Africa’s poet laureates, having won 2nd Prize in an Africa-wide, yearlong BBC Network Africa Poetry Competition in 2001. He received the National Leadership Award in 2010 from the National Excellence Award Committee of Liberia. This award recognizes public and private citizens for distinguished service to community and nation. And in 2011, he was winner of the Public Service Award from the National Excellence Award Committee. Hon. Ngafuan has been named Min ister of the Year by several local media institutions since he became a Minister of Government in 2008.
Others
Hon. Ngafuan is married to Mrs. Massa Konneh Ngafuan, and the union is blessed with three children – two girls and a boy. He loves sports, especially football, which he plays very well. When he served as Minister of Finance, he captained his team, “Dollars,” to two successive championships in the Annual Inter-Ministerial Tournament.
