MoCI Rolls Out Digitization & Decentralization Of Business Registration

MoCI Rolls Out Digitization & Decentralization Of Business Registration

The Ministry of Commerce & Industry (MoCI) has embarked on an ambitious launch of the digitization and decentralization of   the Liberia Business Registry (LBR), targeting seven of Liberia’s fifteen counties on an initial basis.

 The official launch of the exercise took place  on  Tuesday, August 11,2026,in Kakata City,Margibi County and currently includes  Nimba, Bong,Margibi, Grand Bassa, ,Lofa, Grand Gedeh  and River Gee Counties.

The project focuses on seven fully functional and digitized sub -offices of the Liberia Business Registry-targeting 4,500 newly registered MSMEs, including 1,200 youth-owned businesses and 1,500 others led by women.

Launching the LBR Digitization and Decentralization Project, the Deputy Minister for Administration at the Ministry of Commerce & Industry, Tarnue N. Jeke, told the gathering that the ongoing exercise marks an important step toward brining government services closer to the citizens.

Deputizing for the Minister of Commerce & Industry, Magdalene E. Dagoseh, he said entrepreneurs should   no longer have to travel long distances to access basic business registration services.

Deputy Minister Jeke disclosed that  the Liberian government is determined to ensure that the  young  entrepreneur operating a small  shop, agro-processing  business, transport service, technology business, or other enterprises  to have a fair opportunity to become a formal business.

“Formal  registration gives businesses greater legitimacy and positions them to access finance, markets, government procurement opportunities and other business development services,” he added. 

Deputy Minister Jeke also said economic opportunity should not depend on an individual’s distance away from Monrovia- the nerve of government.

He encouraged young people and women entrepreneurs to take advantage of the service.

Also speaking during the engagements, the Director General of the Liberia Business Registry, Patience Randall, stressed the need for Liberians to take ownership of the ongoing exercise.

She said since her appointment to the LBR in 2024, efforts continue to be made to speed up the business registration process by removing challenges along the way.

Director General Randall further admonished Liberian entrepreneurs to desist from always wanting to sit in one position and channeling their business registration through others, especially elements that may not have a better understanding of how the process works.

The ongoing exercise has already hit Bong County, where similar statements were delivered on Wednesday, August 12, 2026.

The MoCI team, on Thursday August 13, 2026, entered Nimba County, where the delegation equally undertook similar interactive engagements with the citizens in Ganta City.

Meanwhile citizens of the counties reached since the process officially began have embraced the initiative- describing it as timely.

Speaking through their local administrations, they pledged their support to the Ministry of Commerce & Industry and expressed the hope that digitizing and decentralizing business registration will bring relief to them considering the stressful and time-consuming nature of   the manual registration process.