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ADNew-Monrovia, Liberia: The former Minister of Education, George Werner, is calling on members of the 55th Legislature to hold public hearings as soon as possible to assess the supply crunch crisis facing Liberia’s rubber industry.
In a Facebook post yesterday, Werner warned that as competition for raw rubber has intensified sharply, some processors have started to “struggle to secure enough supply to keep factories operating at full capacity.”
“Reports within the sector suggest reduced worker shifts at some facilities because of lower raw material intake,” Werner said. “If true, that means jobs are already beginning to feel the pressure. This is where the issue becomes bigger than individual companies.”
According to Werner, what makes the situation particularly serious is the scale of livelihoods involved. Firestone, Jeety Rubber, and its subsidiary, the Salala Rubber Corporation, have a direct and indirect workforce that supports tens of thousands of Liberians and surrounding communities through schools, clinics, transportation, and local commerce.
“When factories begin complaining about inadequate rubber supply, this is no longer merely a business issue. It becomes a national employment issue. And this is where the government’s ARREST Agenda enters the conversation directly,” he argued. “President Joseph Boakai’s ARREST Agenda prioritizes jobs, economic empowerment, investment, agriculture, and private-sector growth. The rubber industry sits directly at the intersection of all these priorities.”
“If Liberia loses industrial processing capacity or fails to secure stable supply chains for domestic factories, the country risks undermining one of the very sectors capable of generating large-scale employment outside government,” he noted.
According to Werner, complaints of rubber shortages by processors are not merely a plantation issue in Margibi or Bong County, rather they are national economic issues tied directly to jobs, exports, industrialization, and the future of Liberian manufacturing.
The Legislature, he argued, cannot remain silent in this case while some of Liberia’s largest employment sectors become increasingly unstable. Public hearings, Werner noted, must be held to assess how severe the industry’s supply crunch truly is.
“Lawmakers should be asking difficult questions. What is happening to Liberia’s rubber supply chains? Are local processors being undermined? Is there smuggling or under-declaration taking place? Are government revenues being lost? What policies are needed to protect both smallholder farmers and domestic industry?”
Werner’s concerns follow recent developments in the rubber sector, including the expansion plans of Jeety Rubber, which has publicly announced its intention to produce Liberia’s first locally made tires by 2028. However, the company has also warned that the plan depends on securing a steady supply of raw rubber, as it will need between 500 and 550 tonnes of rubber daily to support that ambition once the expansion is completed.
Werner’s position comes as U.S. Chargé d’Affaires Joseph Zadrozny recently visited Jeety Rubber and its subsidiary, Salala Rubber Corporation, and praised the company for its model of investment — which includes schools, clinics, water systems, laboratories, jobs, and manufacturing ambitions, including plans to produce Liberia’s first locally manufactured tires by 2028.
Rubber remains one of Liberia’s most important agricultural export commodities. According to the World Trade Organization, it accounted for 12.5% of Liberia’s total export receipts as of 2021, ranking behind iron ore and gold in the economy.
As part of its mechanism to address the supply crunch, the Liberia Revenue Authority recently issued what it described as an “Important Revenue Notice” to all transit agents and exporters of rubber. The notice announced tighter controls over rubber exports in transit from Guinea and stricter inspection procedures for processed rubber exports from Liberia.
Under the directive, rubber entering Liberia in transit from Guinea must now be officially received at border entry points by Customs and escorted to ports of export. The notice further warned that any rubber lacking official Guinean export documentation would be treated as a Liberian export and subjected to Executive Order No. 151 requirements. Additionally, the notice required all processed rubber exports from Liberia to be jointly inspected and sealed by Customs and the Liberia Agricultural Commodity Regulatory Authority (LACRA) before final export permits are issued.
According to Werner, government agencies do not normally issue such notices unless there are deeper concerns involving revenue leakage, export traceability, smuggling, industrial supply disruptions, or regulatory control.
Meanwhile, Werner has called on the government to pay close attention to developments elsewhere in West Africa. He noted that Côte d’Ivoire — now Africa’s largest rubber producer and the world’s third-largest globally — has managed to generate roughly US$2 billion annually from rubber exports as a result of aggressively pushed local processing requirements, understanding that “rubber is not merely agriculture; it is industrial policy tied directly to jobs, exports, and manufacturing.”
Ghana has moved in the same direction. The country exported more than US$227 million worth of rubber in 2024 but recently imposed a 10-year ban on raw natural rubber exports after domestic processors warned that factories were being starved of supply and jobs were being threatened.
“Liberia is now approaching the same crossroads. Liberia has the raw materials. Liberia has the labor force. Liberia has nearly a century of institutional memory in rubber production. What Liberia has struggled to build consistently is the industrial infrastructure and policy coordination needed to move up the value chain,” Werner argued. “That is why the current whispers in the rubber sector matter. If Liberia loses its processing base, it risks remaining trapped permanently at the lowest end of global commodity markets.”
Werner further that if Liberia can stabilize supply chains, encourage domestic processing, protect smallholder farmers, and gradually expand manufacturing, the country could finally begin transforming rubber from a colonial-era export commodity into the foundation of modern industrial growth.
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