IT’S TIME TO CREATE A NATIONAL YOUTH FUND

Liberia deserves to celebrate the crossing of the US$1 billion mark in domestic revenue. For a country that has historically struggled with limited fiscal space and heavy dependence on external assistance, the ability to mobilize more resources domestically is an important step forward. We should congratulate the Government of Liberia, the Liberia Revenue Authority, the Ministry of Finance, the private sector, workers and every Liberian contributing to the national economy.

But this milestone should also prompt a more important conversation: what should Liberia do with greater fiscal capacity?

Revenue collection is not development by itself. Its significance lies in what the state is able to build with the resources it mobilizes. If our fiscal capacity is growing, then our ambition for what those resources can accomplish must grow with it.

There is perhaps no greater investment we can make than in Liberia’s young people.

Liberia is a young country, and that reality is often discussed as a challenge because of unemployment, limited opportunities and migration. But a young population can also be one of our greatest economic assets. The difference lies in whether we treat young people primarily as beneficiaries of government programs or as productive economic actors in whom the country must deliberately invest.

For too long, youth development has focused heavily on training, workshops and short term projects. These are useful, but they are insufficient. We continue to tell young people to become entrepreneurs and innovators without creating enough mechanisms for them to access the capital required to build enterprises, commercialize ideas and create jobs.

The argument for such a fund is not that young people need special treatment. It is that the state has a responsibility to invest in the productive capacity of the generation that will build tomorrow’s economy.

A young entrepreneur who receives capital to build a business can become an employer and taxpayer. A young farmer who receives financing to expand production can contribute to food security and reduce imports. A young innovator who receives support to develop a technology solution can create an entirely new economic opportunity. The return on these investments may not always be immediate, but over time they can expand Liberia’s productive economy.

The National Youth Fund should therefore be designed as an investment mechanism, not a political distribution scheme. It should be professionally managed, transparently governed and accessible on the basis of merit and economic potential. Its financing could support entrepreneurship, innovation, agriculture, technology, creative industries, the blue economy and other sectors in which young Liberians can create value.

Most importantly, the fund should receive a defined annual appropriation through the national budget. It should not depend primarily on donor projects or temporary government initiatives. If youth constitute the majority of our population and the future of our economy, then investment in their productive capacity should be reflected in the country’s most important financial document.

There is also a deeper philosophical question here.

For generations, Liberians have been told to prepare themselves for opportunity: go to school, acquire skills, start businesses and work hard. But preparation without opportunity eventually becomes frustration. We cannot continue asking young people to build the future while providing so little capital with which to build it.

Crossing the billion dollar revenue mark gives Liberia an opportunity to change that philosophy.

We should begin thinking about public revenue not only in terms of what government can spend today, but also in terms of what productive capacity it can create for tomorrow. If the state collects more from the economy, it should invest part of that increased capacity in expanding the number of Liberians who can participate productively in the economy.

A National Youth Fund would be a statement that Liberia believes its young people are not merely recipients of development. They are an investment in development itself.

The billion dollar milestone should therefore be more than a fiscal achievement. It should be an invitation to think bigger about Liberia’s future.