Private Sector Mapping Report Secondary Data Analysis

Private Sector Mapping Report

Secondary Data Analysis November 2019

This publication was produced at the request of the United States Agency for International Development

(USAID). It was prepared independently by Social Impact, Inc., under the Liberia Strategic Analysis activity.

ii

CONTENTS Abbreviations and Acronyms ....................................................................................................................... iii

Background ................................................................................................................................................... 1

Country Overview ......................................................................................................................................... 1

Business Types .............................................................................................................................................. 3

Ownership Type ............................................................................................................................................ 7

Gender ........................................................................................................................................................ 12

Geolocation Nationality .............................................................................................................................. 17

Conclusion ................................................................................................................................................... 19

Annex 1: Summarized NEC Data ................................................................................................................. 21

iii

Abbreviations and Acronyms

Economic Community of West African States

ECOWAS

Economic Co-operation and Development

OECD

Focus Group Discussion

FGD

Key Informant Interview

KII

Limited Liability Company

LLC

National Establishment Census

NEC

Non-governmental organization

NGO

Pro-Poor Agenda for Prosperity and

Development

PAPD

Small and Medium-sized Enterprises

SME

Background This Private Sector Mapping Report, provides secondary data analysis of the Liberian 2017

National Establishment Census (NEC). The findings of the secondary analysis of the NEC dataset

will inform USAID/Liberia’s approach to supporting Liberia’s private sector to address constraints

to growth and leverage opportunities to partner and support the Mission’s objective of market-

driven, inclusive economic growth supporting increased job creation.

The mapping exercise will comprise of two phases that will culminate into a Private Sector

Mapping Report:

• Phase 1: Secondary data analysis of the National Establishment Census (NEC) survey data

that will help inform the development of the survey tool for Key Informant Interviews

(KIIs) and Focus Group Discussions (FGDs).

• Phase 2: Primary data collection via KIIs and FGDs with key private sector actors that will

triangulate the secondary data analysis from Phase I and provide solid information for the

Mission’s decision-making processes in the private sector.

The NEC dataset contains the basic information of the Liberian businesses operating during 2017.

The purpose of this report is to analyze and interpret the NEC data based on the parameters

that the NEC dataset provides us, including; business geographical information, main economic

activity, turnover, number of employees, the gender of ownership, and ownership by nationality.

This information is not only important for National Accounts in having a complete business listing

but is also useful for Government Ministries and Agencies, the private sector/business community,

students, researchers, Non-governmental organizations (NGOs), and international partners. It

provides an oversight of the distribution of economic activity according to the sector, estimated

turnovers, and characteristics of owners and employees. In order to build Liberia’s economy,

accurate information of all economic activities is crucial for all actors involved.

Country Overview Liberia has a young society where 43.72% of its 4,809,768 population are under 14 years old, and

19.9% are between 15 and 24 years old1. Against this background, one can observe that in less

than a decade, the Liberian economy will have enormous human resources for its economic

activities.

Liberia GDP was 3.25 USD billion for the year 2018. The GDP growth dropped from 2.5% in

2017 to 1.2% in 20182. Meanwhile, based on the World Bank overview of the Liberian economy

in 2018, the GDP growth of 1.2% is due to the expansion in the Liberian mining sector, while the

non-mining sector didn’t expand since the year 2017.3

1 Central Intelligence Agency. (2019). Liberia. In The world factbook. Retrieved from

https://www.cia.gov/Library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/li.html 2 The Heritage Foundation, Accessed September 15, 2019.

https://www.heritage.org/index/country/liberia 3 World Bank, Available here: https://www.worldbank.org/en/country/liberia/overview

2

Among significant factors shaping the reduction in Liberian GDP growth is dim economic freedom

that has a direct impact on the Liberian private sector size and its scope of work. In terms of

economic freedom, with a score of 49.7, Liberia holds the 160th freest economy in 20194.

According to "2019 Investment Climate Statements: Liberia" conducted by the U.S. Department

of State: "In Liberia, the business climate remains very challenging; corruption is endemic and a

hindrance to investment."5 The Liberian government has launched the Pro-Poor Agenda for

Prosperity and Development (PAPD) in 2018, particularly to empower the private sector.

However, subsidies that are granted on the current account made by the general government to

private enterprises potentially are inefficient in the absence of free-market mechanisms.

Furthermore, such a lack of competent economic structure can directly or indirectly shape the

sociopolitical status of a country.6

Since the market system is not completely separated from the political dynamics, free trade,

which is the result of the integration

of the global economy, provides

more domestic freedom. With

democratic governance in place,

both legislative and judicial branches,

along with institutions controlled by

the executive branch, can monitor,

investigate, and track the practices

of the private sector system. In the

Freedom House categorization,

Liberia is considered as “Partly

Free.” 7After a decade of peace and

stability, the sociopolitical structure

of the country has not shown

improvement, and in terms of Civil

Liberty, its score dropped from “4”

to “3” from 2017 to 2018.8

Additionally, the Liberian private and non-governmental sectors do not have a compelling

involvement in one of the most significant economic sectors-i.e. agriculture. Based on the

4 The Heritage Foundation. Available here: https://www.heritage.org/index/country/liberia 5 https://www.state.gov/reports/2019-investment-climate-statements/liberia/ 6 GOL Pro-Poor Agenda for Prosperity and Development, available here: https://www.emansion.gov.lr/doc/Pro-

Poor%20Agenda%20For%20Prosperity%20And%20Development%20book%20for%20Email%20sending%20(1).pdf%

20-%20Compressed.pdf 7 Based on the definition provided in Freedom House Methodology 2019: “The average of a country or territory’s

political rights and civil liberties ratings is called the Freedom Rating, and it is this figure that determines the status

of Free (1.0 to 2.5), Partly Free (3.0 to 5.0), or Not Free (5.5 to 7.0)”. Available here:

https://freedomhouse.org/report/methodology-freedom-world-2019 8 Freedom House, Freedom in the World Comparative and Historical Data, Accessed September 15, 2019.

https://freedomhouse.org/report-types/freedom-world

0

0.5

1

1.5

2

2.5

3

3.5

4

4.5

2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018

CL PR

Figure 1: Civil Liberty and Political Right Scores for Liberia Source: Freedom House

https://www.heritage.org/index/country/liberia

https://www.state.gov/reports/2019-investment-climate-statements/liberia/

https://www.emansion.gov.lr/doc/Pro-Poor%20Agenda%20For%20Prosperity%20And%20Development%20book%20for%20Email%20sending%20(1).pdf%20-%20Compressed.pdf



https://freedomhouse.org/report/methodology-freedom-world-2019

3

World Factbook9, 34% of the Liberian GDP in the year 2017 was coming from Agricultural

activities10. However, based on the NEC, only 0.05% of the Liberian private sector is working in

Agricultural activities-i.e. Twenty-five out of 17,101 enterprises listed in the NEC.

Business Types In terms of the size of the enterprises and enterprises which make up the Liberian private and

non-governmental sector, there are four classifications: micro, small, medium, and large.

Based on Organization for Economic Co-operation and

Development (OECD) definition: "Enterprises can be classified

in different categories according to their size; for this purpose,

different criteria may be used, but the most common is the

number of people employed. In small and medium-sized

enterprises (SMEs), fewer than 250 people are employed.

SMEs are further subdivided into micro-enterprises (fewer

than 10 employees), small enterprises (10 to 49 employees),

medium-sized enterprises (50 to 249 employees), and large

enterprises employ 250 or more people."11

There are both advantages and disadvantages for a developing

country when the majority of its private enterprises are

comprised of small or medium enterprises. A small business is

not as sustainable as a large business. On the other hand, if

small enterprises are provided the financial resources to

become medium and large businesses, they can boost up the

economy. In Liberia, approximately 87% of the private and

non-governmental sectors are categorized as small and micro

businesses, 8% as medium enterprises, and 5% as large

businesses.

According to the 2017 NEC, 68% of the private and non-

governmental sector enterprises are working in Wholesale

and Retail Trade; repair of motor vehicles and motorcycles.

Figure 3 also indicates that the majority of the Liberian private

sector business enterprises’ activities revolve around non-productive activities.

9 The overall composition of Liberian GDP by sector based on World Factbook: agriculture: 34% (2017 est.),

industry: 13.8% (2017 est.), services: 52.2% (2017 est.) Available here: https://www.cia.gov/Library/publications/the-

world-factbook/geos/li.html 10 Central Intelligence Agency. (2019). Liberia. In The world factbook. Retrieved from:

https://www.cia.gov/Library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/li.html 11 Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, Available here:

https://data.oecd.org/entrepreneur/enterprises-by-business-size.htm

9241370

10119

4688

0

2000

4000

6000

8000

10000

12000

5%8%

59%

28%

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%

Figure 2: Liberian Private Sector based on Size of the Business Source: 2017 NEC

4

1

4

6

14

19

25

39

48

50

109

135

160

220

267

294

513

1012

1143

1337

11705

0 5000 10000 15000

Public administration anddefence; compulsory social…

Real estate activities

Water supply; sewerage,waste management and…

Mining and quarrying

Activities of extraterritorialorganizations and bodies

Agriculture, forestry andfishing

Construction

Electricity, gas, steam and airconditioning supply

Transportation and storage

Administrative and supportservice activities

Professional, scientific andtechnical activities

Arts, entertainment andrecreation

Financial and insuranceactivities

Human health and socialwork activities

Information andcommunication

Other service activities

Manufacturing

Accommodation and foodservice activities

Education

Wholesale and retail trade;repair of motor vehicles…

Figure 3: Liberian Private Sector by Business Sector

Source: 2017 NEC

0.01%

0.02%

0.04%

0.08%

0.11%

0.15%

0.23%

0.28%

0.29%

0.64%

0.79%

0.94%

1.29%

1.56%

1.72%

3%

5.90%

6.68%

7.82%

68.45%

0.00

%

10

.00

%

20

.00

%

30

.00

%

40

.00

%

50

.00

%

60

.00

%

70

.00

%

80

.00

%

90

.00

%

10

0.00

%

Public administration anddefence; compulsory social…


Water supply; sewerage,waste management and…


Activities of extraterritorialorganizations and bodies

Agriculture, forestry andfishing

Construction

Electricity, gas, steam and airconditioning supply


Administrative and supportservice activities

Professional, scientific andtechnical activities

Arts, entertainment andrecreation

Financial and insuranceactivities

Human health and social workactivities

Information andcommunication


Manufacturing

Accommodation and foodservice activities

Education

Wholesale and retail trade;repair of motor vehicles and…

5

For other economic sectors, 8% of the Liberian private and non-governmental sectors are

involved in education, 6% in accommodation and food service activities, approximately 5% in

manufacturing, and approximately 3% working in other service activities. The rest of the 10% are

working in the following diverse group of sectors: public administration and defense; compulsory

social security, real estate activities, water supply; sewerage, waste management and remediation

activities, mining and quarrying, activities of extraterritorial organizations and bodies, agriculture,

forestry and fishing, construction, electricity, gas, steam and air conditioning supply,

transportation and storage, administrative and support service activities, professional, scientific

and technical activities, arts entertainment and recreation, financial and insurance activities,

human health and social work activities, and information and communication. Figure 3 indicates

the number of business entities for each economic activity listed in the 2017 NEC.

Figure 4 indicates the number of Liberian business enterprises by their Annual Turnover. The

percentage of entities in private and non-governmental sectors, with annual turnovers that

exceed LD$ 800,001 (US$ 6,400),12 was 4% of all the sectors. The percentage for those that had

an annual turnover of LD$ 200,001-800,000 (US$ 1,600-6,400) is approximately 9% and for those

that had LD$ 70,001-200,000 (US$ 560-1,600) was 25%. Most of the entities, i.e. 62%- listed in

the NEC, had less than or equal to LD $70,000 (US$ 560).

12 Liberian dollars within this report are based on the exchange rate from December 2017 when the NEC data was

analyzed, when 1 USD was approximately equal to 125 LD.

6

10719

4222

1471

689

0

2000

4000

6000

8000

10000

12000

less than or equal to LD$70,000

LD$ 70,001 - 200,000 LD$ 200,001 - 800,000 LD$ 800,001 and above

9%25%

4%

63%

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

90%

100%

ld$200,001 - 800,000 ld$70,001 - 200,000 ld$800,001 and above less than or equal told$70,000

Figure 4: Liberian Private Sector Annual Turnover Source: 2017 NEC

7

While there is no feasible increase for large businesses, and there is a decrease in medium

businesses, the number of small and micro enterprises drops dramatically and has a negative

correlation with the annual turnover. Hence, the Liberian economy needs to enhance an

economic structure in which the medium and large private sector has enough financial

opportunities/resources to grow. (see Figure 2)

Ownership Type According to the 2017 NEC, the Liberian private and non-governmental sectors are categorized

as follows; Limited Liability companies, Non-Government Organizations/Non-Profit

Institutions/Associations, Partnerships, and Sole Proprietorship. Figure 5 provides the meaning

of each business type based on the definition of it given by the government of the Republic of

Liberia13.

13 The Liberian Corporate Registry, Available here: https://liberiancorporations.com/

0

1000

2000

3000

4000

5000

6000

7000

8000

less than or equal told$70,000

ld$70,001 - 200,000 ld$200,001 - 800,000 ld$800,001 and above

large medium micro small

Figure 5: Size of the Business and Annual Turnover Source: 2017 NEC

https://liberiancorporations.com/

8

Business Type Definition

Limited Liability Companies The Liberian Limited Liability Company (LLC)

is an entity designed to provide the limited

liability features of a corporation with the

operational flexibility of a partnership. The

LLC is a preferred form of entity for holding real estate and other forms of asset

investment. The LLC is not a tax paying entity

and any profits or losses are reported on the

individual member’s tax return.

Non-Government Organizations/Non-Profit Institutions/Associations

A Non-Governmental Organization (NGO) functioning within the territory of Liberia shall

mean an independent, nonprofit making, non-

partisan and charitable organization,

established in accordance with the

Associations Law of Liberia, having the

primary goal of enhancing the social,

educational, professional, scientific, athletic,

cultural and economic well-being of

communities; and it may operate nationally or

locally on a nondiscriminatory basis.

Partnerships Liberian Limited and General Partnerships are

an attractive form of entity for investors who

do not want to be involved in the daily

operations of the business but seek limited

liability and the benefits from profits

generated by the entity. Limited Partnerships

are often formed by business owners involved

in real estate, manufacturing, and other

business ventures.

Sole Proprietorship Sole Proprietorship is a form of enterprise

that involves only one person as the

beneficiary.

Table 1: Business Types and Definitions Source: Government of the Republic of Liberia

9

One reason for the low level of annual turnover

for the Liberian private sector is the ownership

structure of the businesses.

As Figure 6 indicates, in 2017, most of the business’

ownership structure consisted of the sole

proprietorship structure of ownership. Accordingly,

due to the dominant structure of ownership, i.e. sole

proprietorship, in the Liberian private and non-

governmental sectors, these sectors wouldn’t

deliver a compelling level of stability and profit-

making to the Liberian economy.

According to Figure 6, 92% if Liberian private and

the non-governmental sector has sole

proprietorship structure, 4% partnership,

approximately 2% private limited liability companies,

and the rest 2% consist of Non-Profit organizations,

public limited liability companies, and other

unknown structures.

In terms of the size of these enterprises in Liberia,

approximately 97% of the sole proprietorship is the

small or medium business. Often sole

proprietorship business ownership structure hinders

the capacity of raising capital for the business, and it

also has a limited life cycle.

Exploring the relationship between the structure of

ownership and the annual turnover of the companies

will provide critical input to the correlation between

ownership type and the amount of capital. The

Liberian private sector is not an exception in terms

of the correlation between

the ownership type and financial prosperity of the

businesses. Figures 7 and 8 indicate that increasing

the annual turnover has a positive correlation with

the numbers of Private Limited Liability Companies.

At the same time, an increase in the annual turnover

has a negative correlation with the number of sole

proprietorship business entities. Figure 9 provides

detailed numbers of enterprises based on their

ownership and their annual turnover.

15844

743322 128 48 16

0

2000

4000

6000

8000

10000

12000

14000

16000

18000

Figure 6: Business Types Source: 2017 NEC

92.6%

4.4% 1.9% 0.8% 0.2% 0.1%0.0%

10.0%

20.0%

30.0%

40.0%

50.0%

60.0%

70.0%

80.0%

90.0%

100.0%

10

0

2000

4000

6000

8000

10000

12000

less

th

an o

r eq

ual

to

ld$

70

,00

0

ld$

70

,00

1 -

20

0,0

00

ld$

20

0,0

01

- 8

00

,00

0

ld$

80

0,0

01

an

d a

bo

ve

Figure 7:Number of Sole proprietorship companies based on Annual turnover Source: 2017 NEC

0

20

40

60

80

100

120

140

160

less th

an o

r equ

al to ld

$7

0,0

00

ld$

70

,00

1 - 2

00

,00

0

ld$

20

0,0

01

- 80

0,0

00

ld$

80

0,0

01

and

abo

ve

Figure 8: Number of Private Limited Companies based on their Annual Turnover Source: 2017 NEC

11

139

4

38

8

98

402

72

1

25

11

104

1258

59

2

28

14

202

3917

52

9

37

15

339

10267

0 2000 4000 6000 8000 10000 12000

limited liability companies-private

limited liability companies-public

non-government organizations/non-profit…

others

partnerships

sole proprietorship




others

partnerships

sole proprietorship




others

partnerships

sole proprietorship




others

partnerships

sole proprietorship

LD$

80

0,0

01

an

d a

bo

veLD

$ 2

00

,00

1 -

80

0,0

00

LD$

70

,00

1 -

20

0,0

00

less

th

an o

r eq

ual

to

LD

$ 7

0,0

00

Figure 9: Annual Turnover by the structure of ownership

Source: 2017 NEC

12

Gender The overall female unemployment rate for the year 2018 was

2.045% of the total labor force. The overall male

unemployment rate for the same year was 2.012%. The

similarity of the overall unemployment rates for each gender

does not necessarily reflect the lack of gender imbalance in the

job market, in particular for the Liberian private sector. Based

on the data from the 2017 NEC, the Liberian private sector is

a male-dominated sector where 67% of the enterprises have

male ownership, 30% female ownerships, and 3% with both

male and female ownership. (See Figure 10)

The data indicates the same pattern when it comes to the

gender of ownership in terms of the annual turnover.

Approximately 87% of the Liberian private sector consists of

small or micro-enterprises where approximately, 60% of the

enterprises are micro, 27% are small, 8% are medium, and 5%

are large. Women own approximately 30% of the private

sector entities in Liberia. This indicates the high imbalance

between the genders. (See Figure 11)

Gender inequality contributes to low economic security for

women in the economy. It has a reciprocal impact on lifetime

poverty and instantly reduces the economic performance of a

country. Even though the overall Liberian unemployment rate

is pretty much similar for males and females, the private sector

reveals a different picture.

459

5128

11509

0

2000

4000

6000

8000

10000

12000

14000

bothmale and

female

female male

67%

30%

3%0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

90%

100%

male female both male and

female

Figure 10: Business by Gender of the Owner

Source: 2017 NEC

13

7167

2868

1005

469

3254

1249

426199294 104 40 21

0

1000

2000

3000

4000

5000

6000

7000

8000

less than or equal to ld$70,000

ld$70,001 - 200,000 ld$200,001 - 800,000 ld$800,001 and above

Male Female Male and Female

67% 68% 68% 68%

30% 30% 29% 29%

3% 2% 3% 3%0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

90%

100%

less than or equal told$70,000

ld$70,001 - 200,000 ld$200,001 - 800,000 ld$800,001 and above

Male Female Male and Female

Figure 11: Annual Turnover by Gender of the Owner Source: 2017 NEC

14

Figure 12 shows ownership by gender and nationality.

According to Figure 12, 62% of the Liberian owners

are male, 35% are female, and 3% are both male and

female.

The level of the gender imbalance is higher in non-

Liberian enterprises where among ECOWAS 14nationals, 90% are male, 9% are female, and 1% are

owned by both male and female owners. For the

other foreign nationals, 88% are male, 5% are female,

and 7% are both male and female.

The same gender imbalance exists when it comes to

the structure of ownership. Based on Figure 13, in

Sole Proprietorship enterprises, 67% of owners are

male, 31% are female, and both male and female own

the rest. For enterprises with partnership ownership

structures, 65% of owners are male, 13% are female,

and both male and female owners own 22% of the

enterprises. In private limited liability companies, 80%

of the owners are male, 6% are female, and 14% are

both male and female. From the total number of 128

non-government organizations/non-profit

institutions/associations in the NEC, 49% are

owned/controlled by male owners, 24% are owned

by female, and 27% of the enterprises have both male

and female owners. For Public Limited Liability

Companies, 63% of the owners are male, 6% are

female, and 31% are both male and female owners.

14 The Economic Community of West African States Member states Benin, Burkina Faso, Cabo Verde, Côte

d'Ivoire, The Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea Bissau, Liberia, Mali, Niger, Nigeria, Senegal, Sierra Leone, and Togo.

37324 62

4871

217 40

8523

2251

735

0

1000

2000

3000

4000

5000

6000

7000

8000

9000

Liberian EcowasNational

Other ForeignNationals

both male and female female male

3% 1% 7%

35%

9% 5%

62%

90%88%

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

90%

100%

Liberian EcowasNational

Other ForeignNationals

both male and female female male

Figure 12: Ownership by Nationality and Gender of the Owner

15

10

35

63

256

484

10,661

1

3

31

21

99

4973

5

10

34

44

160

206

0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100%


others


limited liability companies- private

partnerships

sole proprietorship

Male Female both male and female

Figure 13: Structure of Ownership and Gender of the Owner Source: 2017 NEC

533

13

91

21

108

36

852

41

204

165

245

820

11

300

121

1

4

39

5

7899

582

6

13

1

48

2

324

5

12

83

30

182

1

205

10

0

0

11

1

3612

28

5

3

4

1

161

2

4

18

19

10

2

8

4

0

0

0

0

190

0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100%

Accommodation and food service activities

Activities of extraterritorial organizations and bodies

Administrative and support service activities

Agriculture, forestry and fishing

Arts, entertainment and recreation

Construction

Education

Electricity, gas, steam and air conditioning supply

Financial and insurance activities

Human health and social work activities

Information and communication

Manufacturing



Professional, scientific and technical activities

Public administration and defence; compulsory social security



Water supply; sewerage, waste management and…

Wholesale and retail trade; repair of motor vehicles and motorcycles

M F M&F

Figure 14: Economic Sector by Gender of Owner Source: 2017 NEC

16

Based on Figure 14, the only

business sector that has gender

balance, in terms of the ownership

of the enterprise, is the

Accommodation and Food

Services Activities sector. In this

sector, 51% of the enterprises are

owned by female owner, male

owners own 47%, and both male

and female owners own the rest

2% of enterprises.

In the Liberian private and non-

governmental sector, 70% of the

total employees recorded on the

2017 NEC, are male and 30% of

the employees are female. Figure

15 indicates the number of female

and male employees in each

economic sector. According to the

data, there are two sectors in

which the number of female

employees is exceeding the

number of male employees

including; Accommodation and

food service activities and Human

health and social work activities.

Additionally, some sectors are

more male-dominated sectors

than the others in terms of the

gender of employees-e.g.

Construction, Real estate

Activities, and Electricity, gas,

steam, and air conditioning supply.

30802

78

380

79

11

688

1594

218

6441

1846

2147

748

178

17762

343

577

13609

5851

145

3486

13556

26

72

7

4

153

1140

63

1614

495

2434

160

27

8076

55

247

2767

2695

103

3631

0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100%

Wholesale and retail trade; repair ofmotor vehicles and motorcycles

Water supply; sewerage, wastemanagement and remediationactivities



Public administration and defence;compulsory social security

Professional, scientific and technicalactivities



Manufacturing

Information and communication

Human health and social work activities

Financial and insurance activities

Electricity, gas, steam and air conditioningsupply

Education

Construction

Arts, entertainment and recreation

Agriculture, forestry and fishing

Administrative and support serviceactivities

Activities of extraterritorial organizationsand bodies

Accommodation and food serviceactivities

Male Female

Figure 15: Number of Employees in each Economic Sector by Gender Source: 2017 NEC

17

Geolocation Nationality Liberian private sector is concentrated in Montserrado country where the capital is located. In

turn, around one-third of the Liberian population lives in and around the capital. Such

concentrated urbanization is one of the most crucial aspects of the Liberian economy in general

and the Liberian private sector in particular. Based on Figure 16, Liberia has a geo-centralized

private sector. One tentative observation is that the private sector depends upon its distance to

the central government.

According to Figure 16, approximately 70% of these enterprises are located in Montserrado

county, 5% in Nimba (the largest Liberian county), 4% in Margibi, 3% in Lofa, 3% in Sinoe, 3% in

Grand Gedeh, 2% in Grand Bassa and the rest of the 10% are in Bong, Maryland, Bomi, Grand

Cape Mount, River Gee, Gbarpolu, Grand Kru, and Rivercess. 15

For the public administration and defense and compulsory social security private companies

business sectors, only one private company exists, which is located in Montserrado. The same

can be observed for the supply, sewerage, waste management, and remediation activities sectors

in that only one private company stand on the list and which is also located in Montserrado. As

for real estate activities, only 4 companies are listed in the 2017 NEC with three of them located

in Montserrado and one located in Margibi. Capturing only four real estate-related establishments

may also indicate that there may be issues of underreporting within census data.

15 For more details please see Annex 1.

79 113 121 196 198 203 378 467 478 498 522 597 660 816

11775

0

2000

4000

6000

8000

10000

12000

14000

Figure 16: Geolocation of Enterprises

Source: 2017 NEC

18

According to Figure 17, only in Agriculture, Forestry, and Fishing sector, the number of business

entities in rural areas is higher than in urban areas where 14 entities are in the rural areas, and

11 entities are in the urban areas. Mining and quarrying have an equal number for each urban and

rural areas (7 enterprises in urban areas and 7 in rural areas). Furthermore, some of the sectors

only exist in urban areas, including transportation and storage, water supply; sewerage, waste

management, and remediation activities, and public administration and defense; compulsory social

security.

206

27

90

22

953

0

137

71

45

115

161

105

73

179

76

316

52

106

794

10822

378

523

526

68

383

48

373

37

288

127

0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100%

Sinoe

Rivercess

River Gee

Nimba

Montserrado

Maryland

Margibi

Lofa

Grand Kru

Grand Gedeh

Grand Cape Mount

Grand Bassa

Gbarpolu

Bong

Bomi

Rural Urban

Figure 17: Geolocation of the Enterprises by Rural/Urban Source: 2017 NEC

19

Conclusion The NEC dataset captures a total of 17,101 establishments. The dataset indicates that Liberia has

a highly geo-centralized and urban-oriented business community. Additionally, and based on the

NEC, the Liberian business community has a notable level of gender imbalance. The data confirms

that gender inequality is an obstacle to social, political, and economic development.

Since the report will be used to inform KIIs and FGDs with the business community in rural

Liberia, culminating in a Private Sector Forum in Gbarnga, it is important to note that the Bong

province reflects relatively the same elements of the Liberian business community on the national

level. There were a total of 467 businesses in Bong county; the majority of these establishments

are in Bong’s capital, Gbarnga (365 enterprises). From the 467 establishments, 459 establishments

have sole proprietorship business types. Similar to the national level trend, 1041 or 70% of

employees are male, and 455 or 30% of employees are female. Sixty-one percent of these

enterprises had an annual turnover of less than or equal to LD $70,000, 32% had an annual

turnover of LD$ 70,001-200,00, and the remaining 6% had an annual turnover of LD $ 200,001-

800,000. In the city of Gbarnga, there is no establishment that has an annual turnover that exceeds

LD$ 800,001. In the other two counties in USAID’s zone of influence, namely Lofa and Nimba,

there are establishments that their annual turnover exceeds LD$ 800,001. In Lofa county, there

are 6 establishments, and in Nimba county, there are 10 establishments that their annual turnover

are exceeding LD$ 800,001.

Unlike the Bong county, the establishments in Nimba and Lofa counties are not centralized in

their capitals. There were a total of 816 enterprises in Nimba county. Approximately, 50% of the

establishments were in Garr Bain (409 enterprises) and approximately 18% were in its capital

Sanniqquellie Mahn (151 enterprises), 10% were in Wee-Gbehy-Mahn (80 enterprises), 6% were

in Yarmein (55 enterprises), 5% were in Zoe-Gbao (41 enterprises), 5% were in Doe (40

enterprises), and the rest %6 of the enterprises were in the other districts. In Lofa, there were a

total of 596 establishments. 48% of these establishments were in Voinjama (288 enterprises), 19%

of them were in its capital Zorzor (110 enterprises), 17% were in Foya (98 enterprises), 9% were

in Kolahun (54 enterprises), and the rest 7% were in the other districts.

In terms of the pattern of specializations, in Bong county, %84 of the business were working in

wholesale and retail trade; repair of motor vehicles and motorcycles (390 enterprises), %4 in

accommodation and food service activities (20 enterprises), %3 in manufacturing (14 enterprises),

and the rest 9% were working in; administrative and support service activities, arts entertainment

and recreation, construction, education, human health and social work activities, information and

communication, other service activities, and professional scientific and technical activities.

In Nimba county, 77% of the establishments in Nimba (626 enterprises) were working in

wholesale and retail trade; repair of motor vehicles and motorcycles, 6% in manufacturing (45

enterprises), %4 in other service activities (32 enterprises), %4 in education (29 enterprises), and

the rest of the %9 business were working in; accommodation and food service activities,

administrative and support service activities, arts entertainment and recreation, electricity, gas,

20

steam and air conditioning supply, financial and insurance activities, human health and social work

activities, and information and communication.

In Lofa, %63 of the establishments were working in wholesale and retail trade; repair of motor

vehicles and motorcycles (376 enterprises), %13 in Accommodation and food service activities

(76 enterprises), %7 in education (45 enterprises), 5% in Manufacturing (32 enterprises), 3% in

information and commuinication (20 enterprises), and the rest %9 were working in; activities of

extraterritorial organizations and bodies, administrative and support service activities, agriculture

forestry and fishing, arts entertainment and recreation, financial and insurance activities, human

health and social work activities, other service activities, and professional scientific and technical

activities.

Given these considerations, the following recommendations can be made in order to empower

the Liberian private sector:

• Conduct additional research and needs assessments with the private sector to identify

opportunities, risks, and capacities at the local level;

• Strengthen and empower women in the economy through gender inclusion policies and

programs;

• Generate strong linkages between the existing economic sectors in rural areas to other

economic sectors;

• Increase local unions and associations that share information and best practices among

enterprises.

• Support training and educational programs for information sharing on best practices

between enterprises; for example, understanding the differences between sole

proprietorship and other business types.

• Improve the local administrative capacities to form strong and efficient linkages between

national policies (e.g., PAPD programs) to local needs and opportunities.

• Provide resources for large establishments that have a greater impact on the Liberian

GDP, employment, and sustainable economic growth opportunties.

21

Annex 1: Summarized NEC Data Activities and Locations Count of fid

Accommodation and food service activities 1143

Bomi 19

Bong 20

Gbarpolu 9

Grand Bassa 39

Grand Cape Mount 6

Grand Gedeh 38

Grand Kru 7

Lofa 76

Margibi 46

Maryland 35

Montserrado 773

Nimba 26

River Gee 16

Rivercess 7

Sinoe 26

Activities of extraterritorial organizations and bodies 19

Lofa 7

Maryland 1

Montserrado 11

Administrative and support service activities 109

Bomi 1

Bong 1

Grand Bassa 6

Grand Gedeh 2

Lofa 3

Margibi 6

Montserrado 78

Nimba 12

Agriculture, forestry and fishing 25

Bomi 2

Grand Bassa 3

Grand Cape Mount 1

Lofa 2

Margibi 5

Montserrado 9

Rivercess 1

Sinoe 2

Arts, entertainment and recreation 160

Bong 5

22

Activities and Locations Count of fid

Grand Bassa 4

Grand Gedeh 3

Grand Kru 1

Lofa 5

Margibi 17

Montserrado 121

Nimba 2

Rivercess 2

Construction 39

Bong 1

Grand Bassa 2

Margibi 1

Montserrado 34

Sinoe 1

Education 1337

Bomi 11

Bong 13

Gbarpolu 10

Grand Bassa 35

Grand Cape Mount 8

Grand Gedeh 18

Grand Kru 7

Lofa 45

Margibi 68

Maryland 37

Montserrado 1021

Nimba 29

River Gee 14

Rivercess 6

Sinoe 15

Electricity, gas, steam and air conditioning supply 48

Gbarpolu 1

Grand Gedeh 1

Montserrado 45

Nimba 1

Financial and insurance activities 220

Bomi 1

Grand Bassa 3

Grand Gedeh 3

Lofa 3

Margibi 3

Montserrado 200

Nimba 5

23


Rivercess 1

Sinoe 1

Human health and social work activities 267

Bomi 1

Bong 4

Grand Bassa 4

Grand Cape Mount 1

Grand Gedeh 2

Lofa 7

Margibi 20

Maryland 2

Montserrado 209

Nimba 12

River Gee 3

Rivercess 1

Sinoe 1

Information and communication 294

Bomi 5

Bong 3

Grand Bassa 15

Grand Cape Mount 1

Grand Gedeh 13

Grand Kru 2

Lofa 20

Margibi 9

Maryland 8

Montserrado 185

Nimba 11

River Gee 8

Rivercess 2

Sinoe 12

Manufacturing 1012

Bomi 5

Bong 14

Gbarpolu 4

Grand Bassa 37

Grand Cape Mount 2

Grand Gedeh 21

Lofa 32

Margibi 51

Maryland 7

Montserrado 767

Nimba 45

24


River Gee 6

Rivercess 3

Sinoe 18

Mining and quarrying 14

Gbarpolu 1

Grand Bassa 1

Grand Cape Mount 1

Grand Gedeh 1

Margibi 1

Montserrado 9

Other service activities 513

Bomi 2

Bong 10

Gbarpolu 1

Grand Bassa 11

Grand Cape Mount 1

Grand Gedeh 12

Grand Kru 1

Lofa 17

Margibi 15

Maryland 6

Montserrado 393

Nimba 32

River Gee 4

Rivercess 2

Sinoe 6

Professional, scientific and technical activities 135

Bomi 2

Bong 6

Grand Bassa 2

Grand Gedeh 3

Grand Kru 1

Lofa 3

Margibi 7

Maryland 6

Montserrado 87

Nimba 13

River Gee 2

Sinoe 3

Public administration and defence; compulsory social security 1

Montserrado 1

Real estate activities 4

Margibi 1

25


Montserrado 3

Transportation and storage 50

Grand Bassa 3

Grand Gedeh 1

Margibi 2

Montserrado 43

Nimba 1

Water supply; sewerage, waste management and

remediationactivities 6

Montserrado 6

Wholesale and retail trade; repair of motor vehicles and

motorcycles 11705

Bomi 154

Bong 390

Gbarpolu 95

Grand Bassa 313

Grand Cape Mount 177

Grand Gedeh 380

Grand Kru 94

Lofa 377

Margibi 408

Maryland 276

Montserrado 7780

Nimba 627

River Gee 143

Rivercess 54

Sinoe 437

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Grand Total 17101

Private Sector Mapping Report Secondary Data Analysis

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