Years of civil strife have destroyed much of Liberia's economic infrastructure, made civil administration nearly impossible and brought economic conditions to a halt. Even though the civil strife is essentially over, tension remains and the deterioration of economic conditions was exacerbated by the flight of most business people with their expertise and capital.
A civil war, which erupted in 1990 when President Samuel Kenyon Doe was killed by rebel forces, recently settled through strong intervention of a West African peacekeeping force and an interim ruling council which successfully held democratic elections in 1997. Since that time, Liberia has moved to reconstruct its economy with aid from donors. Active local non-governmental organizations have worked to improve education, lobby for continued freedom of press and speech as well as transparent governance. Nevertheless, long-term prospects for peace will remain poor unless the former warring factions can overcome their greed, mutual suspicions and ethnic hatreds.
Liberia covers an area slightly larger than Tennessee and is bordered by Guinea, Cote d'Ivoire and Sierra Leone. Liberia's population was estimated around 2 million in 1997. Richly endowed with water, mineral resources, forests and a climate favorable to agriculture, Liberia has been a producer and exporter of basic products especially rubber, while local manufacturing, mainly foreign owned, has been small in scope. Liberia has significant iron ore, timber, diamonds and gold deposits.
Continued tensions between former warring factions have slowed donor driven rebuilding. Imports into Liberia totaled an estimated US$ 3.65 billion in 1998 of fuels, chemicals, machinery, transportation equipment, manufactured goods, rice and other foodstuffs from the United States, the European Union, Japan, China, the Netherlands, South Korea and other Central and West African countries. Reconstruction opportunities, mainly financed by donor countries, exist in water and sanitation, electricity generation and distribution, health, transportation, and communication sectors.
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