Congo Town, Monrovia – Dr. Akinwumi A. Adesina, the president and chairman of the Africa Development Bank Group (ADBG), has criticized government officials, stressing that there should be no justification for poor performance.
Speaking at the launch of the Liberia Youth Entrepreneurship Investment Bank (YEIB) and a High-Level Expanded Cabinet meeting on Tuesday, July 22, 2025, at the EJS Ministerial Complex in Congo Town, Dr. Adesina clarified that government officials must adopt a new perspective on what it means to be a minister, stating that ministers are not little presidents.
To succeed, he claimed, a minister must act like a speed train: choose the destination (the intended result), set the direction and speed, and keep going until they get there. Government officials’ primary responsibilities, he added, are to help the President succeed by developing and implementing the policies and programs in their respective portfolios in a way that yields measurable and meaningful results.
“National challenges are enormous, and only those who can work and deliver results at scale should be called upon to work as Ministers,” the president and chairman of the Africa Development Bank Group stated.
“If the target is too realistic, it means that they are too comfortable; you are not doing enough,” he said, encouraging ministries to establish extremely high goals. “It is not an accomplishment to climb over a stool.”
Dr. Adesina declared that unless a selected few ministries or agencies achieve their objectives, the government’s ARREST strategy will fail. “Dependencies exist between objects. Ministers often compete for territory in administration. Each of them tries to establish their dominance. Ministers should put their egos aside,” He stated.
He called on government officials to work together to create projects that will positively affect Liberians. “Instead of each of us protecting our own isolated areas, we provide more when we collaborate,” he added.
Like Baobab trees, he said, Liberia’s problems and potential must be solved together in order to transform obstacles into opportunities. According to Dr. Adesina, government agencies and departments must have a clear plan for collaborative delivery and be encouraged to apply the Baobab principle.
Baobab, he added, needs collaborative work planning to demonstrate how suggested improvements will directly lead to tangible benefits for the ARREST agenda. “To honor and encourage interagency collaborations, I suggest you think about starting an Inter-Agency Presidential Performance Awards program. At the African Development Bank, I carry out this kind of work.” He stated that personnel will really get the Presidential award for the High5s’ combined achievement at the end of August.
According to Dr. Adesina, the Boakai-Koon government needs a ONE Government strategy, which is comparable to the African Development Bank’s ONE Bank approach. In order to promote and motivate initiatives and programs for multi-agency collaboration, he explained, “you must leverage your budget system. For maximum impact, transform collaboration into partnerships and cooperation into collaboration. What you incentivize, you get.”
