By Charles Mgbolu
Clasping a surfboard, 28-year-old Oscar Morris sprints to the ocean at dawn from his beachfront home in the quiet town of Robertsport, 114 kilometres from the Liberian capital of Monrovia.
His body tenses as he plunges into the foamy sea in anticipation of the waves that would soon curl up around him in an embrace of adventure.
It's another beautiful day in this part of Liberia, and although Morris isn't quite your everyday wealthy guy gallivanting around stunning beaches, he has a lot to be thankful for. He has a job in the city, and is engaged to the love of his life.
Twenty years ago, life was more about survival than surfing for Morris as his family raced to escape marauding rebel fighters tearing through homes amid the bloody civil war that had engulfed the country, causing more than 250,000 fatalities, according to the UN.
"I think I was just six or seven years old at the time. I don't really remember a lot, but I know we moved so many times at night in groups through the forest," Morris recounts to TRT Afrika.
Ravages of war
Liberia's two civil wars — first from December 24, 1989 to August 2, 1997 and the second from April 21, 1999 to August 18, 2003 — destroyed public infrastructure and tore asunder families and communities.
The country's economy was demolished too, with average income in the immediate years after the war falling to one-eighth of what it was in 1980, making Liberia one of the poorest in the world, according to the Global Centre for Development.
Recruited by rebel fighters when he was still a child, Ezekiel (not his real name) bears mental scars from that tumultuous period that those like Morris don't have to deal with.
"We would be forced to take hard drugs before going on a typical killing spree," Ezekiel recounts.
"I had to go into therapy later, and was rehabilitated by a reconciliation committee set up by a church in partnership with the government. I still continue to pray every day for forgiveness — for all I did during the war."
Double blow
Apart from the consequences of two civil wars, Liberia has borne the brunt of two health crises — the Ebola epidemic that hit West Africa in 2014 and the global Covid-19 pandemic in 2020.
Ebola, in particular, had a devastating impact on Liberia, with over 10,000 confirmed cases and over 4,000 deaths.
Seidu Swaray, executive director of Liberia's Association of Psychosocial Services, remembers the mental trauma Ebola triggered in many war survivors.
"The high number of deaths was so shocking and so sudden. It was like another kind of war happening all over again, and this really took a mental toll on so many people," he tells TRT Afrika.
Resurrection
Like a phoenix, Liberia has risen from the rubble of destruction, with the once-deafening drums of war that reverberated across the country now a fading memory.
August 18, 2023, marks the 20th anniversary of the end of the second civil war, a landmark meant to be celebrated across cities in the West African country.
Liberia's UN resident coordinator, Christine Umutoni, says it's no small achievement that the country has braved a period of uninterrupted stability with such fortitude, transforming from one of the most volatile to one of the most peaceful nations in West Africa.
"After the civil war, a comprehensive peace agreement was signed in August 2003 in Accra, Ghana. Since then, this country, which I am proud to serve as UN resident coordinator, has made significant strides in its socio-economic development journey," Umutoni writes in the UN's August 2023 newsletter.
The economy may have been demolished following the war, but there are efforts to get it back on track.
Bright projections
In January, former football star George Weah, who succeeded Ellen Johnson Sirleaf as president in 2017, announced that the growth rate forecast for 2023 was 4.2%, up from 3.7% in 2022.
The World Bank says Liberia's economy expanded in 2022 despite global headwinds from the war in Ukraine, high global inflation, and depressed demand in advanced economies.
The expansion was driven by mining and agriculture. Growth in the agricultural sector accelerated to 5.9% from 3.3% in 2021 on the back of increased rice and cassava production. Industrial output grew by 10.4% in 2022, largely driven by increased gold production.
But UN coordinator Umutoni says a lot of work remains to be done if Liberians are to be lifted from poverty.
"National poverty levels remain high. Gender and income inequalities are still pronounced, and it is estimated that 57% of children of school-going age remain outside the classroom. On top of this, rising costs of commodities following the Russian invasion of Ukraine have added to Liberia's economic challenges," she says.
Democracy consolidation
In May 2023, the World Trade Organisation (WTO) wrote its first trade policy review of Liberia since it joined the global forum in July 2016.
The director general of the WTO, Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, advises Liberia to capitalise on trade opportunities, including through regional trade integration within the framework of ECOWAS and the African Continental Free Trade Area.
The WTO predicts that the country will benefit from tailwinds for mining and structural reforms in sectors such as energy, trade, transportation, and financial services.
Inflation, however, is projected to increase slightly to 7.8% in 2023, and moderate gradually to 5.5% by 2025.
The war continues to morph, and on October 10, it will be a different kind of battle for the Liberian people as they go to the hustings to elect their next president, the fourth since the end of the second civil war.
There, they will face the tough decision of choosing who will steer the country farther away from the haunting past of twin civil wars.
Like Morris on his surfboard, Liberia will look to swim with the tide and steer clear of the sharks.
