Monrovia – On September 13, 2023, Dr. Clarence Moniba of the Liberia National Union (LINU) claimed in a Presidential debate that “Robertsport was named the best place to surf in Africa”.
Claim: “Robertsport was named the best place to surf in Africa”.
Verdict: Incorrect
He made the claim while specking about Liberia’s economic potential and his agenda to increase revenue generation from the tourism sector.
Local Voices Liberia Fact-Checking Desk has verified the claim and established that the claim is incorrect.
To fact-check this claim, we first contacted Dr. Moniba’s special assistant about the sources or reliance of his claim, but we did not receive response up to the time of publication of this report.
We searched the internet about Robersport surfing potential and its position on a list of surfing destination in Africa. We found several articles on surfing in Robertsport.
In May 2022, CNN travel reported that “reputation and infrastructure could pave the way for Liberia to join South Africa and Morocco as key African surfing destinations”.
The article notes that “Robertsport is looking to tap into an international surfing market expected to be worth more than $4.8 billion by 2027.
AFK Travel, the only comprehensive resource devoted solely to travel to and within Africa named Robertsport as one of the best places in Africa to surf, citing a report by The New York Times.
At the same time, a documentary by the BBC in August 2018, described Robertsport as “Liberia’s Surfing paradise,” where surfers can catch waves all year round.
We also found a publication from Africa Budget Safari about the top 10 best surfing destination in Africa.
African Budget Safaris is an independent and privately-owned travel company and also a member of the South African Tourism Services Association. Robertsport did not make the list of the African Safari 10 best spots in Africa for surfing, but it is the first on the list of hiding or underground surfing spot in Africa.
Conclusion
Based a careful review of several articles on surfing in Robertsport, Grand Cape Mount County, we conclude that the claim made by the LINU’s standard bearer that Robertsport was named the best place to surf in Africa is incorrect. There is no publicly available report that names Robertsport as the best place for surfing in Africa. However, there are many articles about the surfing potential of Robertsport. It is ranked amongst the best surfing destinations by many travel websites, but it is not the best in Africa.
Local Voices Liberia, in partnership with the United Nations Development Programme, has implemented the iVerify Liberia system with the objective of strengthening capacities to address threats to information integrity, especially in view of the upcoming 2023 elections, to ensure all Liberian citizens have access to credible, reliable and verified information, everywhere and at all times.
This initiative is funded by Irish Aid, Embassy of Sweden in Monrovia, European Union Delegation in Liberia and the United Nations Peacebuilding Fund. The donors have no say in the production of this fact check report.
