Liberia invites investors into fish farming, processing and cold storage
With a World Bank fisheries project more than 80% spent, Liberia's fisheries authority says the next step is private investment that keeps the sector's value at home.
Bangkok — Liberia's fisheries regulator is using a World Bank-backed project to draw private investors into aquaculture, fish processing and cold storage, The Liberian Investigator reports.
The director general of the National Fisheries and Aquaculture Authority, J. Cyrus Saygbe Sr., made the case to Valerie Hickey, the World Bank's director for environment and the blue economy, at the IMF and World Bank annual meetings in Bangkok.
Where things stand
- The Liberia Sustainable Management of Fisheries Project has disbursed more than 80% of its funds.
- Mr Saygbe briefed Ms Hickey on progress in fisheries management, aquaculture and support for livelihoods, and on preparations for major infrastructure investment.
- Ms Hickey praised the project's progress as a major turnaround.
The opportunity
Mr Saygbe named aquaculture, fish processing, cold storage, transport and fisheries infrastructure as openings for business. Closing the infrastructure gaps and improving the business climate, he said, would let investors build and grow enterprises and keep more of the sector's value in Liberia.
He said investment should bring real benefits to Liberians, especially women and young people, through jobs, new businesses and better incomes in fishing communities, and should strengthen food security.
Both sides agreed that public investment and private enterprise must work together, and reaffirmed cooperation between Liberia and the World Bank.
Source: The Liberian Investigator via AllAfrica, 14 October 2026.
