Entrepreneurs on the rise in Liberia

On the corner of 17th and 14th streets, there hasn’t been running water or electricity for almost 20 years. The same is true across most of the city – across streets named Coleman Avenue, Center Street, and Broad Street.

But this is no American city.
This is Monrovia, the capital city of Liberia, a city which bears the scars of one of Africa’s most brutal civil wars. A war that wreaked havoc on the country’s people, institutions and economy.But although Liberia is fragile and the third poorest country in the world, its economy is growing. So yesterday, here at Virgin Unite, we were really excited to announce that we’re hoping to play a role in that journey by launching partnership with Humanity United to support Liberian entrepreneurs.

At the launch of the initiative yesterday in New York we listened to President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf talk of now 10 consecutive years of peace in Liberia. The time is right for entrepreneurs to apply their energy, ideas and networks to building Liberia into a leading and sustainable African country. There’s a huge opportunity – natural resources and passionate people are not in short supply here.
The Entrepreneurship Pilot Program will support Liberian entrepreneurs by providing intensive coaching, goal setting and skills development training at the Branson Centre for Entrepreneurship in South Africa.
At the end of it, they’ll have developed an investment-ready business plan, which they will pitch to national and international investors.
Liberia was founded by freed American and Caribbean slaves, hence the street names. The time has come for Liberia to break free again from its recent past. After all, this is not a country shy of sticking its neck out – it was, after all, the first African country to have a female head of state.  We look forward to supporting entrepreneurs in shaping a new future for this beautiful country.