Gov’t Nears Historic US$1B Revenue Mark | Business

Liberia is on the verge of crossing the historic US$1 billion mark in domestic revenue collection, with the Liberia Revenue Authority (LRA) reporting US$904.7 million collected as of August 18, as the government moves to strengthen domestic resource mobilization and reduce dependence on external financing.

The announcement was made Wednesday by LRA Commissioner General and Chief Executive Officer James Dorbor Jallah during the official launch of the Authority’s Corporate Strategic Plan 2025–2029, held in Monrovia under the theme, “Freedom Declared, Freedom Financed.”

Jallah said Liberia could reach the US$1 billion threshold within weeks, describing the milestone as a reflection of the growing contribution of Liberian taxpayers and businesses.

“Liberia stands within weeks of collecting one billion United States dollars in domestic revenue — for the first time in the one hundred and seventy-nine year history of this Republic,” Jallah declared.

He disclosed that the LRA collected US$464 million in domestic revenue in 2014, increasing to US$699 million in 2024. In fiscal year 2025, against a target of US$804.6 million, the Authority collected US$848 million, exceeding the target by US$44 million.

Jallah said the domestic revenue-to-GDP ratio, which stood at 13.4 percent in 2023, rose to 15.9 percent in 2025 and is projected to reach 16.3 percent this year.

“We are no longer trailing the African benchmark. We are walking into it,” he said.

However, Jallah cautioned against treating the expected US$1 billion as merely a financial achievement.

“One billion dollars is not a trophy. It is a toolbox. The billion is not the achievement. What the billion pays for is the achievement — the clinics, the classrooms and the roads that we no longer have to ask anyone else to fund.”

He credited taxpayers, businesses, customs officers and revenue officials across the country for the increase, stressing that the money was being generated by Liberians through thousands of daily transactions.

“When we cross that threshold — and we shall cross it — let no one say the Liberia Revenue Authority crossed it. Liberia crossed it,” Jallah said.

Jallah said the new strategic plan is designed to consolidate recent gains and transform the LRA into a more efficient, transparent, technology-driven and taxpayer-focused institution.

The plan focuses on five broad areas: effective and transparent administration of tax laws; promotion of voluntary compliance; institutional strengthening; increased use of technology and data; and stronger cooperation and partnerships.

“We will administer the law effectively, fairly and transparently — because a tax system that bends for the powerful will be resisted by the powerless, and rightly so,” he said.

On compliance, Jallah stressed that enforcement alone cannot deliver sustainable revenue growth.

“No revenue authority on earth has ever audited its way to prosperity. Enforcement can catch the few. Only trust can carry the many.”

He said the LRA would move from manual and fragmented processes to integrated data, automation and intelligence-led administration, making compliance easier for taxpayers and improving predictability for businesses.

Jallah also announced a new relationship with taxpayers, acknowledging that relations between citizens and revenue collectors have historically been marked by mistrust.

“For generations, the relationship between the citizen and the revenue collector in this country has been a relationship of suspicion,” he said.

He promised that the LRA would publish its rulings and procedures, improve transparency, protect taxpayer information and treat citizens’ time as valuable.

In return, he urged taxpayers to accurately declare their income, transactions and imports.

“The compliant taxpayer will never again carry the burden of the evader on his back. That is not a threat. That is fairness.”

He also described tax payments in patriotic terms, saying: “A tax receipt is not a penalty. It is a share certificate in the Republic of Liberia.”

Jallah disclosed that the LRA is working with the Ministry of Finance and Development Planning to amend the LRA Act to provide the Authority with greater financial autonomy and predictable financing.

The proposal calls for five percent of tax revenue collected to be allocated to LRA operations, modernization and the wider revenue administration system.

“This is not a request for a larger budget. It is an investment in the institution that generates the resources every other institution spends,” he said.

Jallah, however, acknowledged that greater autonomy must come with greater accountability.

“We are not asking to be trusted. We are asking to be measured. Hold us to targets. Publish our results. Judge us by them.”

Digitization and Port Reforms

The Commissioner General disclosed that ASYCUDA has been rolled out at 11 of 17 Customs Business Offices, while LITAS has been deployed at five of 18 Tax Business Offices.

The LRA has also installed shortwave radio systems at five customs offices and provided solar power and Starlink connectivity at rollout locations.

Despite the progress, Jallah said more work remains.

“That is not a record. That is a to-do list,” he said.

He revealed that it currently takes 12 days and 19 hours to clear a container through the Freeport of Monrovia, but the LRA has committed to reducing the period to three days.

“Not three as an aspiration — three as an obligation,” he said.

Finance and Development Planning Minister Augustine Kpehe Ngafuan, who officially launched the strategic plan, said Liberia’s expected US$1 billion revenue milestone represents an achievement for the entire country.

Ngafuan recalled that when the government submitted the US$1.2 billion 2026 national budget, critics described it as unattainable, audacious and unrealistic.

“Some of them were as far as calling us prayer band economists, voodoo economists, and what have you,” he said.

But with Liberia now approaching the billion-dollar threshold, Ngafuan said the country had demonstrated its ability to expand domestic resource mobilization.

“By September, sometime in September, we will hit the billion dollar mark.”

He stressed that Liberia must not stop at US$1 billion.

“We have to sprint in the billions.”

Ngafuan praised Jallah and the LRA team and pledged continued support from the Ministry of Finance, Legislature and Judiciary.

He also disclosed that preliminary requests for the 2027 national budget have reached about US$1.92 billion, underscoring the need to balance growing expenditure demands with increased revenue.

“We have to put this in equilibrium. And that’s a tough task,” he said.

Ngafuan said the government would continue prioritizing the ARREST Agenda for Inclusive Development, including roads, electricity and other national priorities.

At the close of the ceremony, he officially launched the LRA Corporate Strategic Plan 2025–2029 on behalf of President Joseph Nyuma Boakai and the Government of Liberia.

“Let us move from strategy to implementation and from implementation to results,” Ngafuan said.

Jallah closed by urging Liberians to view taxation as a contribution to national independence.

“They declared this nation free. We will make her self-supporting,” he said.

“The love of liberty brought us here. The labor of liberty will keep us here.”