“Don’t Just Come Home. Build Home”: DG Cooper Challenges Diaspora Liberians to Invest in Liberia

MONROVIA, LIBERIA — Director General, Hon. Princess Eva Cooper, has called on Liberians in the diaspora to move beyond remittances and play a more active role in the development of Liberia by investing in the country’s tourism sector.

Speaking at a diaspora engagement event, DG Cooper highlighted investment opportunities across hospitality, ecotourism, tourism technology, creative industries, heritage, transportation, wellness, and other areas of the tourism value chain.

She said the Liberia National Tourism Authority is responsible for regulating the tourism sector, licensing tourism businesses, ensuring compliance with standards, developing tourism infrastructure and products, promoting Liberia locally and internationally, facilitating investment opportunities and partnerships, and preserving the country’s cultural heritage and natural assets.

DG Cooper said Liberia has significant tourism potential, citing its unique culture, more than 570 kilometers of coastline, extensive forest cover, biodiversity, history, and the hospitality of its people.

She noted that Liberia’s historical identity as Africa’s oldest republic and its connection to the settlement of African Americans provide stories that can be packaged and promoted to attract visitors from around the world.

“Liberia, being Africa’s oldest nation, is a destination by itself, but we are yet to package that story to the rest of the world,” she said.

DG Cooper identified accommodation as one of the major areas requiring investment, encouraging Liberians and other investors to consider hotels, eco-lodges, resorts, restaurants, cafés, beach clubs, surf schools, and waterfront restaurants.

She also pointed to opportunities in ecotourism, including birdwatching centers and hiking trails, noting Liberia’s biodiversity and more than 200 bird species.

Technology, she said, also presents opportunities for diaspora investors, including the development of tourism applications and artificial intelligence-powered platforms that can help visitors discover destinations, make bookings, and navigate Liberia.

The Director General further encouraged investment in Liberia’s creative economy, including film academies, music studios, fashion and art schools, noting the role the creative industries can play in telling Liberia’s story to the world.

She also highlighted opportunities in heritage tourism, transportation and wellness, including the rehabilitation of historical sites, airport and destination transportation, water transportation, spas, gyms, and rehabilitation centers.

According to DG Cooper, tourism investment can have an impact beyond the tourism sector by creating jobs, supporting local businesses, empowering communities, and contributing to economic diversification.

“When you invest in the tourism sector, the tourism sector is one sector that cuts across every other sector,” she said.

DG Cooper said Liberians in the diaspora have a unique role to play because of their access to capital, expertise, technology, international networks, and connections.

“You know your country better than anyone. You know our challenges. You know our opportunities, and you know the potential of Liberia,” she said.

She encouraged the diaspora to use those resources to connect Liberia with investors, businesses, partnerships, and visitors while promoting positive stories about the country.

“Turn your connection to Liberia into participation in Liberia’s growth. Invest, partner, mentor, and build,” she urged.

DG Cooper also highlighted Providence Island as one of the country’s key tourism development projects, describing it as one of Liberia’s most important historical assets.

She said the Government of Liberia, under the leadership of President Joseph Nyuma Boakai, has initiated the development of Providence Island, with the first phase expected to establish a foundation for the island’s broader development.

According to DG Cooper, the value of Providence Island lies not only in its physical development but also in the historical story it can tell about Liberia.

She said the planned development can create opportunities for tour guides, artisans, cultural performers, food vendors, water transportation operators, and other local businesses.

DG Cooper also outlined a concept for a museum featuring a replica of the Elizabeth, the ship associated with the arrival of African American settlers in Liberia in 1822.

“What Providence Island has to sell is its story,” she said, emphasizing the importance of using the site to tell Liberia’s history and promote its culture.

She also identified Robertsport in Grand Cape Mount County as another major tourism investment opportunity, highlighting its surfing reputation, coastal location, fishing heritage, Lake Piso, biodiversity, and potential for cross-border tourism between Liberia and Sierra Leone.

DG Cooper said Robertsport has opportunities for surfing, ecotourism, birdwatching, conservation, hospitality, restaurants, beach clubs, and surf schools.

She disclosed that the Tourism Authority is exploring a concept for a surf resort that could help develop Robertsport as a major surf tourism destination while creating opportunities for young Liberian surfers.

In her closing remarks, DG Cooper called on Liberians in the diaspora to consider long-term investment in Liberia rather than focusing solely on remittances.

“My fellow Liberians, we are Africa’s oldest nation. We should develop our country to our standard,” she said.

She urged Liberians abroad to return with their expertise, capital, networks, and ideas and contribute to building businesses and infrastructure that can create opportunities for future generations.

“Don’t just come home. Build home,” she emphasized.

DG Cooper concluded by encouraging Liberians at home and abroad to work together to advance the country’s tourism sector and broader development.

“Let us think Liberia, love Liberia, and build Liberia,” she said.