Liberia: When 82% of the active population works in the informal sector, rethinking work and entrepreneurship

Liberia, a West African country still scarred by civil wars and the Ebola epidemic, is struggling to structure a formal labor market despite several years of economic reconstruction. It is against this backdrop that the Liberian Observer has reignited the debate on employment and entrepreneurship. According to data from LISGIS (Liberia Institute of Statistics and Geo-Information Services) cited by the media, dating from 2021, only 18% of working-age Liberians hold a formal wage-paying job, compared to around 82% active in the informal sector or self-employed. A notable fact highlighted by the article: although informal entrepreneurship sustains the majority of the population, most Liberians nevertheless prefer a stable salaried job to running a small business. This situation raises questions for public authorities and donors regarding employment policies: a market dominated by the informal sector means a reduced tax base, virtually non-existent social protection, and increased vulnerability of workers to economic shocks. From an analytical standpoint, this paradox—a preference for wage labor in an economy where entrepreneurship is the survival norm—reveals a structural weakness in Liberia's formal private sector, which remains heavily dependent on raw materials (iron, rubber, gold) and lacks industrial diversification, rather than a deliberate cultural choice toward self-employment.