Getting it wrong in Liberia and How to get it right

In the NYTimes Daniel Bergner writes about the rule of Africa's first female president.
On corruption:

“We can’t stamp it out, not yet,” Sirleaf said to me, clenching her fists in frustration over the country’s bone-deep corruption. She spoke of being torn between firing every transgressing official and keeping enough ministers and staff members at their desks so the government can go on operating, no matter how badly it is compromised. And meanwhile, unemployment in the country, whose population shifted heavily to Monrovia during the war, stands as high as 85 percent by some estimates. Instilling faith that Liberia’s economic wasteland can be redeemed, however gradually, may be the only way to ensure long-lasting peace, especially with the U.N. troops expected to start pulling out after next year’s elections. Over the radio, Sirleaf put the emphasis on gradually. “I beg you I no magician,” she said, letting a plea seep into her lecture. “I can’t just wave a magic wand.”

Regarding the country's options from a value-add perspective:

Liberia’s natural resources just aren’t in high-enough demand around the world to spur the economy and generate much public revenue. Firestone is providing the government with $4.7 million this year, Sirleaf estimated. To truly take advantage of its iron, rubber and timber, Liberia would have to manufacture things with them; it would have to export finished products rather than raw materials. And it can’t; the country is all but pre­industrial...[continue reading]

We would disagree on this last point of being "preindustrial". Liberia does have innovation assets that lie in plain view. Like every other African country its makers and innovators are largely overlooked while emphasis is placed on largely unsustainable initiatives. From building up is nascent market gardeners, training a techie workforce to building its tourist assets we dispute the uninformed claim that that salvation lies in oil based resource extraction.