Monrovia, Liberia – Augustine Kpehe Ngafuan, Minister of Finance and Development Planning, has challenged the National Port Authority team to do more than just plan; he noted that they must ensure that the plan is carried out in a way that will benefit Liberia.
According to him, “some people will think you’re doing nothing when you’re planning, thinking, or strategizing. You will not succeed if you do not plan well. Implementing the strategy is one thing, but working it out is quite another.”
Speaking as the keynote speaker at the National Port Authority’s (NPA) formal five-year Strategic Plan (2025–2030) unveiling, he praised the NPA for enlisting Liberian consulting firms to help create the plan, calling it a “new day for Liberia.”
He emphasized the need to empower Liberian specialists to strengthen national institutions, asking, “How do they become strong if they aren’t allowed to get contracts?”
Ngafuan linked the ARREST Agenda for Inclusive Development (AAID) with the NPA’s most recent strategy, stating that the more effective Liberia’s ports are, the closer the nation is to prosperity. “Every Liberian benefits from the port’s operational efficiency. Improving turnaround times lowers service costs, which in turn alleviates the everyday problems that ordinary citizens face,” he added.
The NPA’s Managing Director, Hon. Sekou A. M. Dukuly, referred to the initiative as “a bold move on port transformation” and a crucial step in realizing Liberia’s economic potential.
The RESET strategy, which stands for Reform Governance, Enhance Efficiency, Strengthen Financial Management, Establish Inland Terminals, and Transform Infrastructure, is the foundation of the $550 million initiative. “Our ports have long been viewed as merely places to collect taxes. We are altering that narrative today,” Dukuly stated.
The RESET agenda of the NPA presents a bold plan to update essential infrastructure, modernize Liberia’s port governance system, and improve operability through automation and digital transformation, the NPA director continued. In order to manage the regional trade corridors with nearby nations like Guinea, Sierra Leone, and Côte d’Ivoire, as well as to ease traffic at the Freeport of Monrovia, the framework also aims to develop inland container ports.
Liberia’s ports will be guided “from maintenance to modernization, from dependency to diversification, from isolation to a united port system,” according to the new strategy.
Dukuly emphasized the plan’s evidence-based, inclusive approach that is in line with the ARREST Agenda for Inclusive Development (AAID). “Our goal is to efficiently, transparently, and commercially excel in the management of Liberia’s ports and to facilitate trade,” Dukuly stated. Additionally, he thanked Hon. Augustine Kpehe Ngafuan for his ongoing assistance in promoting the government’s development initiatives by means of its well-timed infrastructure expenditures.
The Managing Director of the NPA reiterated the Authority’s pledge to donate 15–20% of its yearly income to a recently created Port Infrastructure Investment Fund, which will finance the Port’s future expansion.
Rev. J. Luther Tarpeh, the chairman of the NPA Board of Directors, Clarence Massaquoi, the head of the Liberia Telecommunications Authority, other high-ranking government officials, port users, business leaders, and development partners were among the event’s important participants.
