Liberia Commercial

(UNCLASSIFIED) In 2013, Liberia’s economy saw an 8.1 percent real GDP growth. This growth was mainly due to the increased mining sector activities. Despite this growth, unemployment issues remain. A largely uneducated youth population has caused a lot of contract jobs to be filled from outside of the country. Liberia’s service sectors account for 42 percent of Liberia’s total GDP. The government of Liberia has focused on infrastructure development in order to help diversify economic output particularly in the agricultural and industrial sectors. Infrastructure development is seen as a critical need for Liberia to sustain its economic growth and development. Finding the money necessary for infrastructure development will be a major issue for Liberia’s government. The July 2014 Ebola outbreak has resulted in a sharp disruption of economic activities across all sectors. Manufacturing Sector:The manufacturing sector saw a 13 percent expansion in 2013. Cement output production increased by nearly 50 percent. This was due to an increase in local construction as Liberia continues to recover from two civil wars. High costs in energy generation and limited supplies hinder the manufacturing sector as the output products are cost prohibitive to the local population. Other manufacturing products include candles, rubbing alcohol, and mattress production. Industrial and mining sector:Liberia has large amounts of metallic and non-metallic minerals such as gold, diamond, iron ore and oil. Iron ore production has seen large increases since 2012. These increases are in large part due to the China Union iron ore exports and the increased production by Arcelor Mittal. Both of these corporations have begun or restored portions of Liberia’s railways and roads to increase their export operations. Foreign interest in the iron ore sector led to US $7.6 billion in direct investment into Liberia. Investment and work production has slowed in the iron ore sector as Arcelor Mittal has reported disruptions in its expansion project as contractors have moved people out of Liberia due to the Ebola outbreak. The mining sector accounted for 10 percent of the country’s GDP in 2013. While historically the mining sector was based upon small artisanal mining, large foreign corporations are beginning to shift towards larger mining operations. Timber exports have also increased by 5 percent in 2013.Attribute Table Field DescriptionsISO3 - International Organization for Standardization 3-digit country code ADM0_NAME - Administration level zero identification / name ADM1_NAME - Administration level one identification / name ADM2_NAME - Administration level two identification / name NAME - Name of commercial institution TYPE - Primary classification in the geodatabase TYPE2 - Secondary classification in the geodatabase CITY - City location available SPA_ACC - Spatial accuracy of site location (1 – high, 2 – medium, 3 – low) COMMENTS - Comments or notes regarding commercial institution SOURCE_DT - Source one creation date SOURCE - Source one SOURCE2_DT - Source two creation date SOURCE2 - Source two CollectionThis feature class was generated utilizing data from Wikimapia, Google, OpenStreetMap, GeoNames, Wikimapia and other sources. Wikimapia is open-content mapping focused on gathering all geographical objects in the world. OpenStreetMap is a free worldwide map, created by crowd-sourcing while GeoNames is a geographical places database maintained and edited by the online community. Consistent naming conventions for geographic locations were attempted but name variants may exist which can include historical or less widespread interpretations.The data included herein have not been derived from a registered survey and should be considered approximate unless otherwise defined. While rigorous steps have been taken to ensure the quality of each dataset, DigitalGlobe is not responsible for the accuracy and completeness of data compiled from outside sources.Sources (HGIS)DigitalGlobe, "DigitalGlobe Imagery Archive." Accessed October 2, 2014. “Monrovia Visitors Map 2014 Mid-Year Edition.” Emerging Business Labs. January 2014. Accessed October 2, 2014. www.emergingbusinesslab.com.GeoNames. "Liberia." September 23, 2014. Accessed September 23, 2014. http://www.geonames.org.Google, September 2014. Accessed September 2014. www.google.com.Khan, Masood. “Letter dated 3 December 2012 from the Chair of the Security Council Committee Established pursuant to resolution 1521 (2003) concering Liberia addressed to the President of the Security Council.” Stockholm International Peace Research Institute. December 4, 2012. Accessed October 2, 2014. www.spiri.org.OpenStreetMap, "Liberia." September 2014. Accessed September 18, 2014. http://www.openstreetmap.org.Wikimapia, "Liberia." September 2014. Accessed September 22, 2014. http://wikimapia.org.Sources (Metadata)“Annual Economic Review 2013.” Ministry of Finance, Republic of Liberia. March 2014. Accessed October 2, 2014. http://state.gov.“Doing Business in Liberia: 2013 Country Commercial Guide for U.S. Companies.” United States Department of Commerce. January 2013. Accessed October 3, 2014. http://state.gov.Hamilton, Richard. “Ebola Crisis: The Economic Impact.” BBC News. August 20, 2014. Accessed October 3, 2014. www.bbc.com.“Liberian Economy.” Global Security. September 17, 2014. Accessed October 3, 2014. www.globalsecurity.org.“Liberia Overview.” The World Bank. April 9, 2014. Accessed October 3, 2014. www.worldbank.org.