By: Uriah Suah
Ganta, Nimba County — The Minister of Public Works, Roland Layfette Giddings, says Liberia cannot achieve sustainable economic growth without urgently reforming its infrastructure systems, particularly in the areas of roads, energy, and urban planning.
Speaking to reporters on Wednesday, January 21, 2026, on the sidelines of the first post-war National Infrastructure Conference in Ganta City, Minister Giddings described the five-day gathering as a bold national effort to holistically reassess and restructure the country’s infrastructure sector after years of conflict and uncoordinated development.
He said the conference, a vision of President Joseph Nyuma Boakai, is aimed at “rebranding and rebuilding Liberia through reconstruction,” noting that the country has not undertaken a comprehensive review of its roads, energy, ports, airports, telecommunications, public buildings, and spatial planning systems since the end of the civil war.
“The reason why we are not developing as expected is because of the deficit we have in infrastructure, especially roads and energy,” Giddings said, stressing that weak planning and institutional overlaps have continued to undermine national development.
The conference has brought together government officials, development partners and citizens to craft the future infrastructure agenda for Liberia.
