By Ben TC Brooks
Government, through the Central Bank of Liberia (CBL), is poised to inaugurate a regional cash hub fully completed in the country’s central southeastern region of River Gee County, the project’s contracting supervisor has disclosed.
Following the cancelation of the first date set for the dedication of the facility last year, authorities in River Gee County have confirmed from higherups at the CBL in Monrovia that it will be held soon, but could not however disclose the specific date the dedicatory ceremony is scheduled to be held this year.
When the regional cash hub in Fish Town, River Gee County is inaugurated, services of the Central Bank of Liberia (CBL) will be enhanced and more inclusive.
The hub, the second of a CBL flagship project, is poised to provide cash management services to commercial bank branches in the country’s southeastern region including River Gee, Grand Gedeh, Maryland, Grand Kru, and Sinoe Counties.
This is expected to improve the efficiency and inclusivity of financial services in Liberia, particularly in rural areas.
Following the hub’s dedication, it will also facilitate the provision of services including revenue collection and salary payment by the Liberian government, its ministries, and agencies.
The hub contains residential facilities for staff and a banking hall for handling liquidity requests of commercial banks and other regulated financial institutions.
Meanwhile, Rural Reporters News Network (RRNN) has reliably gathered that President Joseph Boakai is expected to be in attendance at the upcoming dedicatory ceremony of the Fish Town-located regional cash hub.
An array of dignitaries including foreign and local guests are also expected to attend, RRNN is told, with our sources adding that also expected to grace the occasion would be members of the President’s cabinet; both chairs on the Committees on Banking and Finance in the House of Representatives and the Liberian Senate; the President of the Liberia Bankers Association; international partners, county officials; among others.
It can be recalled, in January of 2023, during the reign of ex-President George Weah, former Deputy Governor for Operations at the CBL, Nyemadi Pearson led groundbreaking efforts for the construction of the country’s second regional cash hub in Fish Town.
The selection of Fish Town for the project was predicated upon its central location in the region, making it accessible to all five counties in the southeastern region of the country, Pearson disclosed at the time.
Under the CBL’s financial services decentralization plan, the Fish Town facility is one of four facilities earmarked for the construction of a regional cash hub across Liberia.
Other areas designated for the construction of the cash hub include Voinjama, Lofa County and the now fully functioning Gbarnga Cash Hub, in Bong County that is situated in Liberia’s central region.
The construction of regional hubs across the country will lessen the cash transportation burdens of commercial banks as well as attract the expansion of bank branches in leeward counties for the provision of adequate and efficient banking services, according to CBL authorities.
Authorities the CBL at the time added that other investments, such as petrol stations, department stores, and merchants, will have easy access to their funds at commercial banks due to the proximity of bank branches to these hubs.
On 10 December 2021, the CBL dedicated its first regional Cash Hub in Gbarnga, Bong County. The Bank’s authorities disclosed that the project, which serves as a blueprint for subsequent hubs to be constructed in other parts of the country, aims to modernize financial centers and enhance services of the CBL.
Key features of the Gbarnga Cash Hub include a banking hall for handling liquidity requests of commercial banks and other regulated financial institutions in rural areas, enhancing the CBL’s cash distribution capability, and the National Payment System infrastructure.
