Liberia in Washington Post and Wall Street Journal

It’s not everyday that the Washington Post and Wall Street Journal print stories on Liberia.

The Post has this excellent story about Liberia’s second sushi bar, and the complicated impact and image of expatriate aid workers in the country. This is the story I imagine lots of well-intentioned NGO folks have wanted to write for a while. The article talks briefly about the Lebanese community in Monrovia, which I continue to think is one of the most under-reported issues in the country.

Anyone who has spent time at the Mamba Point Hotel knows Anna, the Irish woman who co-manages the hotel with her Lebanese husband. She apparently offered the Post this pretty awful and embarassing quote: “They need a bit of resources . . . and they need the professionals to come and do the projects.”

The Wall Street Journal article talks about how ArcelorMittal’s work in Liberia is different than their projects in other countries. The article quotes an ArcelorMittal Liberia CEO saying that in previous projects, “we went in and made them more efficient, profitable, but most of the wheels were still working…In Liberia, none of the wheels are running.” And there is the fun fact that ArcelorMittal’s Liberia project manager is an ex-defense attache who was posted at the US Embassy in Monrovia during the war.