Nimely Faults CBL for Excluding Liberian Businesses from NPL Reform | Business

The President of the Trade Union Congress of Liberia (TUCL), Dominic Nimely, has sharply criticized the Central Bank of Liberia (CBL) for failing to adequately involve Liberian businesses in efforts to resolve the country’s non-performing loans (NPLs), warning that meaningful reforms cannot succeed while the private sector remains excluded from decisions affecting its survival.

Nimely, who is also a member of the Liberia Business Association (LIBA) and the Liberia Chamber of Commerce (LCC), said the CBL’s initiative to address non-performing loans is necessary but argued that businesses directly affected by the problem should have been involved from the beginning.

“We are tired of being left outside. We are tired of being abandoned,” Nimely said. “It is a good thing for the government to come up with such an idea to go after loans, but we should have been part of the discussion from the onset.”

The CBL recently convened stakeholders at the Ellen Johnson Sirleaf Ministerial Complex in Cong Town under the theme, “Resolving Non-Performing Loans to Unlock Access to Finance for Private Sector Growth and Job Creation.”

However, Nimely questioned the extent to which Liberian businesses participated in shaping the framework, arguing that their limited involvement could undermine the conference’s broader objective.

He referenced a foreign participant at the gathering who, according to him, questioned why Liberia’s private sector had not been adequately involved in discussions surrounding the NPL crisis.

Nimely also accused the government and commercial banks of applying what he described as a double standard in the treatment of Liberian and foreign-owned businesses, particularly in relation to loan defaults, debt recovery, access to credit and public scrutiny.

“Liberian businesses, we are always being used as case studies,” he argued, urging authorities to examine the circumstances that cause businesses to default rather than focusing primarily on closing enterprises or auctioning their properties.

He said Liberia’s lending environment is itself contributing to the difficulties faced by businesses, particularly through high interest rates and short repayment periods.

“You are not lending to us; you are killing us,” Nimely said, arguing that expensive credit makes it difficult for Liberian entrepreneurs to invest, expand operations and generate sufficient returns to repay loans.

He called on the CBL and commercial banks to review lending conditions if the government genuinely wants to expand private-sector investment and create jobs.

Nimely also criticized the handling of loan disputes by the Judiciary, saying courts often focus on enforcing repayment through the closure of businesses or auctioning of collateral without sufficiently considering the economic conditions that contributed to loan defaults.

According to him, resolving the NPL problem should therefore be treated as a “two-way street,” requiring banks, borrowers, government institutions, the Judiciary and private-sector representatives to work together.

“Government policies affecting businesses should not be developed behind closed doors and presented to entrepreneurs as finished decisions,” he said.

Nimely urged authorities to engage private-sector stakeholders months before introducing or maintaining regulations, taxes, customs measures or financial frameworks that affect businesses.

“We have to sit around the table. We have to disagree and agree before you come up with a framework to launch,” he said.

Despite his criticism, Nimely acknowledged what he described as positive steps by the Boakai administration, including the formal recognition of the private sector in the national budget and efforts to strengthen private-sector representation abroad.

He urged the administration to build on those initiatives rather than allowing Liberian businesses to remain marginalized in major economic policy decisions.

“The little businessman is the backbone of every economy,” Nimely said.

He maintained that resolving Liberia’s NPL problem requires more than recovering money from distressed borrowers. A sustainable solution, he argued, must also address the conditions under which businesses borrow, operate and repay loans.

Nimely said stronger consultation, fairer lending conditions and greater private-sector participation are essential to restoring access to finance, protecting businesses and supporting sustainable economic growth and job creation.