NPA, LPRC and NaFAA recorded just US$799,000 against US$12.85 million in projected contributions in FY2025, while the government relied heavily on domestic revenue collections to finance national expenditure.
MONROVIA — As President Joseph Nyuma Boakai’s administration prepares to implement a proposed US$1.54 billion national budget for Fiscal Year 2027, questions are mounting over the financial contributions of state-owned enterprises (SOEs), following government records showing that millions of dollars projected from public corporations did not materialize in the 2025 fiscal year.
An examination of the Government of Liberia’s 2025 financial records reveals that the government projected approximately US$14.074 million in dividends and related receipts but recorded only US$1.335 million, leaving a revenue gap of approximately US$12.739 million.
Three major public institutions—the National Port Authority (NPA), Liberia Petroleum Refining Company (LPRC), and National Fisheries and Aquaculture Authority (NaFAA)—account for a substantial portion of that discrepancy.
The three institutions were collectively expected to contribute US$12.85 million. However, government records showed only US$799,000 received from the group.
The breakdown is revealing:
| State-owned institution | FY2025 projection | Recorded receipt |
| NPA | US$5.85 million | US$0 |
| LPRC | US$5 million | US$799,000 |
| NaFAA | US$2 million | US$0 |
| Total | US$12.85 million | US$799,000 |
These figures raise serious questions about the assumptions used in preparing national revenue projections, the financial performance of public corporations, and the oversight exercised by the Ministry of Finance and Development Planning.
The shortfall does not automatically establish that the three institutions unlawfully withheld declared dividends. A budgeted dividend is not necessarily a legally declared and payable dividend. Nevertheless, the government owes the public an explanation for why the projected revenue failed to reach the national treasury.
NPA: US$43.68 Million in Revenue, but No Dividend Recorded
The National Port Authority presents one of the most important cases requiring further financial scrutiny.
A review of its four quarterly management financial reports indicates that the NPA reported approximately US$43.68 million in revenue during 2025.
Its quarterly revenue figures were:
First quarter: US$10.202 million.
Second quarter: US$8.805 million.
Third quarter: US$12.055 million.
Fourth quarter: US$12.620 million.
Despite this reported revenue, the Auditor General’s consolidated government accounts recorded no dividend receipt from the NPA against the US$5.85 million projected for the authority.
The NPA’s gross revenue, however, should not be confused with its net profit or available cash. The authority reportedly had approximately US$60.17 million in outstanding accounts receivable at the end of December 2025. This means substantial amounts were owed to the institution but had not necessarily been collected.
Nevertheless, the figures demand answers.
Did the NPA’s board declare a dividend for 2025? If not, what financial considerations prevented it from doing so? How much of the reported revenue was collected, and how much was consumed by operating expenses, debts and other obligations?
The authority must also explain who owes it the reported US$60.17 million and what measures management has taken to recover those funds.
The absence of a recorded dividend does not prove financial misconduct, but the public deserves a transparent explanation of the institution’s financial position.
LPRC: Why Did Government Receive Only US$799,000?
The Liberia Petroleum Refining Company was expected to contribute US$5 million to government revenue in 2025.
However, only US$799,000 was recorded, leaving a difference of US$4.201 million.
The shortfall raises questions about the company’s financial performance, dividend policy and the decisions of its board and management.
The LPRC previously announced a US$2.5 million dividend for 2024, compared with US$1.3 million in 2023, attributing the improvement to better financial performance and operational efficiency.
Why, then, did the government receive substantially less than the US$5 million projected for 2025?
Was the company’s financial position affected by operational costs, outstanding liabilities or other financial commitments? Was US$799,000 approved as a partial dividend? Did the company make any other payments to government that were not recorded under the dividend account?
These are questions that Managing Director Amos Tweh and the LPRC board should answer by making their audited financial statements, dividend resolutions and payment records available to the public.
NaFAA: Repeated Questions Over Missing Government Revenue
The National Fisheries and Aquaculture Authority also recorded no dividend receipt against the US$2 million projected in the 2025 budget.
The matter is particularly important because NaFAA had previously faced questions over its failure to meet an expected US$1.2 million government contribution for FY2024.
In January 2025, explanations attributed to the authority’s communications department linked the earlier failure to the absence of board approval of its budget, with an indication that the contribution would be reflected in a budget recast.
But the subsequent absence of a recorded dividend in 2025 raises another question: what happened after the earlier explanation?
Did the Ministry of Finance investigate the matter? Was NaFAA’s board directed to explain its financial position? Did the authority have sufficient distributable earnings to meet the US$2 million projection?
Director General Cyrus Saygbe Sr. and the authority’s board should provide documentary explanations.
A recurring shortfall in projected public revenue requires more than administrative explanations. It requires financial evidence and corrective action.
How Did the Government Finance Its Budget Without the Expected Dividends?
Despite the missing SOE contributions, the Boakai administration managed to finance its FY2025 national budget, largely because domestic revenue collections exceeded the original target.
The FY2025 budget was approximately US$880.66 million, with domestic revenue projected at US$804.63 million.
According to the reported Auditor General’s financial figures, actual domestic revenue reached approximately US$847.05 million.
Tax revenue accounted for approximately US$692.62 million, while non-tax revenue contributed approximately US$154.44 million.
This means domestic revenue exceeded its target by approximately US$42.43 million.
The stronger collections helped cushion the effect of revenue shortfalls elsewhere, including the missing dividend-related receipts.
However, the government also recorded actual cash expenditure of approximately US$902.77 million, exceeding the original approved budget envelope. The reported expenditure figures included budget adjustments and payments of outstanding commitments.
The figures demonstrate that the government was able to sustain its spending despite the failure of some expected revenue sources to materialize.
But there is a larger concern: when government-owned corporations fail to deliver projected contributions, the pressure to finance national expenditure increasingly falls on other revenue sources, including taxes collected from ordinary citizens and businesses.
The US$1.54 Billion FY2027 Budget: Where Will the Money Come From?
The issue becomes even more important as Liberia prepares for its proposed US$1.539 billion FY2027 National Budget.
On November 6, 2026, Finance and Development Planning Minister Augustine Kpehe Ngafuan presented the proposed budget to the House of Representatives through Speaker Richard Nagbe Koon.
The Ministry subsequently explained that the draft budget was prepared around the government’s ARREST Agenda and would be subjected to legislative scrutiny.
However, the public needs a clear breakdown of the revenue sources supporting the proposed US$1.539 billion spending plan.
How much is expected from domestic taxes? How much will come from mining royalties, petroleum-related revenue, SOE dividends, grants and borrowing?
And, importantly, what assumptions have been used to project contributions from public corporations whose previous budgeted payments were not fully received?
The Ministry of Finance’s November 9 budget briefing outlined the government’s approach to the proposed budget, but the detailed revenue assumptions and individual SOE dividend projections must be examined against the full budget documentation.
This is particularly important because a revenue projection is only useful if it is supported by realistic financial expectations and credible collection arrangements.
What Does Liberia’s Public Financial Management Law Say?
The Public Financial Management Act of 2009 establishes clear reporting and dividend-accountability requirements for state-owned enterprises.
Section 45 requires SOEs to submit quarterly financial statements to the Finance Minister and relevant sector minister within one month after the end of each quarter.
The law also requires SOEs to submit annual reports to the Finance Minister, sector minister, Auditor General and Bureau of State Enterprises within two months after the end of their financial year.
More importantly, Section 45(3) requires the Finance Minister to present an overall performance statement on SOEs to the Legislature alongside the following year’s budget proposals.
Section 46 addresses dividend policies.
Under that provision:
SOE boards are responsible for establishing dividend policies while considering the financial well-being of their institutions.
Expected dividends must be reflected in the national budget.
Extraordinary profits must be brought to the attention of the Finance Minister and sector minister for consideration of additional dividends.
All declared dividends must be deposited into the Consolidated Fund.
Dividend payments cannot be offset against tax or other obligations owed by an SOE to government.
Section 47 also provides for administrative or criminal sanctions where violations of the Act warrant such action.
The important distinction is that the law does not automatically make every budgeted dividend a legally payable debt. The board’s dividend policy, financial position and formal declaration matter.
Nevertheless, the Finance Ministry has a responsibility to ensure that its revenue projections are supported by credible financial assessments and that declared dividends reach the national treasury.
Where Is the Bureau of State Enterprises?
Another institution whose role deserves scrutiny is the Bureau of State Enterprises (BSE).
The Bureau is expected to contribute to the government’s oversight of state-owned enterprises.
Under the Public Financial Management Act, SOEs are required to submit financial information and annual reports to the relevant government institutions, including the Bureau.
This raises questions about whether the BSE has been adequately monitoring the financial performance of public corporations.
Did the Bureau receive the required quarterly and annual reports from NPA, LPRC and NaFAA? Did it review their dividend policies? Did it identify the reasons behind their failure to meet the government’s projected contributions?
If these reports were submitted, what recommendations did the Bureau make to the Ministry of Finance and the President?
If they were not submitted, what action was taken against the institutions concerned?
The public should not have to wait until an Auditor General’s report exposes revenue shortfalls before government begins demanding explanations from its own corporations.
Questions for President Boakai and Minister Ngafuan
The findings raise a number of questions that deserve direct answers from the Executive Mansion and Ministry of Finance.
Why did the government project US$14.074 million in dividend-related receipts for FY2025 but record only US$1.335 million?
What explains the failure of NPA and NaFAA to record any dividend payments?
Why did LPRC deliver only US$799,000 against its US$5 million projection?
Did the Ministry of Finance formally demand explanations from the three institutions?
How many SOEs submitted their quarterly financial statements as required by Section 45 of the PFM Act?
Did the Bureau of State Enterprises investigate the dividend shortfalls?
Has the government identified any formally declared dividends that remain unpaid?
What action has been taken to recover outstanding declared dividends?
How much SOE dividend revenue has been projected in the FY2027 budget?
What evidence supports the government’s expectation that public corporations will deliver those contributions?
The Legislature Must Demand Answers Before Approving the Budget
The Legislature has an important responsibility in scrutinizing the proposed FY2027 budget.
The House and Senate committees responsible for finance, public accounts and SOE oversight should summon the leadership of the NPA, LPRC, NaFAA, Bureau of State Enterprises and Ministry of Finance.
The hearings should establish whether the institutions generated sufficient profits to declare dividends, whether their boards approved payments, whether the government received what was due, and why the revenue projections were not achieved.
The committees should also request the audited financial statements, board resolutions, bank payment records and official correspondence relating to the missing contributions.
The objective should not be to presume wrongdoing but to establish the facts and determine whether any financial or legal obligations were neglected.
Conclusion: Who Is Protecting the Public’s Money?
Liberia cannot afford a public financial management system in which revenue projections are routinely made without sufficient public explanation when expected contributions fail to materialize.
The US$12.739 million gap in FY2025 dividend-related receipts raises questions that extend beyond three public corporations. It challenges the effectiveness of government oversight, the credibility of national revenue projections and the ability of the Executive to ensure that public institutions contribute appropriately to the national treasury.
The government cannot rely indefinitely on stronger tax collections to compensate for weaknesses in other revenue sources.
If NPA, LPRC and NaFAA were financially unable to declare dividends, they should provide audited evidence. If their boards formally declared dividends but management failed to remit them, the government should explain what action has been taken. If the revenue estimates were unrealistic, the Ministry of Finance should explain why those figures were included in the national budget.
The central question for President Boakai and Finance Minister Ngafuan is straightforward: Who is ensuring that Liberia’s state-owned enterprises protect the government’s financial interests, and why has the public not received a complete accounting of the millions of dollars projected but not collected?
Liberians deserve answers before another national budget is approved.
