The bill, which is the Small Business Empowerment Act 2020, seeks to empower Liberian businesses. Part of the draft bill, LIFE shall be funded from the national budget of Liberia and contributions from government’s bilateral partners, philanthropists, private equities and individuals. In section 3.4 of the bill, custodians of LIFE shall be the Liberian Bank for Development and Investment (LBDI) under the supervision of the Central Bank of Liberia (CBL). Section 4.2 of the draft bill calls for bidding from the Government of Liberia to be done by only small businesses valued up to United States one million dollars or its equivalence in Liberian dollars, in addition to having 51 percent shares owned by Liberians. The bill gives foreign businesses the opportunity to only bid for procurement contracts valued over United States dollars one million or its Liberian dollars equivalent provided that such business shall allocate 25 percent of said contracts to small business in partnership.

Source: Front Page Africa February 05, 2020 04:52 UTC