George Lobbo’s Claim is Misleading: Rice Imports Did Not Decrease by 35% in 2025

In Summary:

• A Unity Party supporter George P. Lobbo has claimed that the UP government reduced rice importation by 35% in 2025 compared to previous years.

• However, a review of Central Bank of Liberia data shows that while rice imports declined from US$212.47 million in 2023 to US$163.56 million in 2024, they increased significantly to US$242.91 million in 2025.

• Therefore, the claim that rice importation decreased by 35% in 2025 is misleading and not supported by the available evidence.

On July 1, George P. Lobbo, a supporter of the Unity Party, claimed on the OK Conversation aired on OK FM 99.5 that the Unity Party government reduced rice importation by 35% in 2025. He argued that before the party came to power, Liberia was spending nearly US$200 million annually on rice imports.

Lobbo made the claim while highlighting what he described as the progress the current administration is making in boosting local rice production through the Ministry of Agriculture.

The Unity Party assumed power in January 2024, bringing to an end the six-year administration of the Coalition for Democratic Change (CDC) led by former President George Weah.

The Claim

His exact words were: “In Liberia, Julius, what was our average rice importation per annum in this country before the Unity Party came to power? We were averaging almost US$200 million rice importation annually. We have decreased that by more than 35% in 2025. Go and look in the 2025 report. In 2025, we reduced rice importation by 35%; I stand by it!”

Rating Justification

To verify these claims, we reviewed the Liberia Financial Statistics reports published by the Central Bank of Liberia (CBL) for the relevant years and calculated the annual rice import values by summing the monthly figures reported under the category “O/w Commercial Rice.”

Our review of the CBL’s Liberia Financial Statistics 2024, Sixth Edition found that Liberia imported approximately US$212.47 million worth of commercial rice in 2023, the final year of the CDC administration. This represents an average monthly import value of about US$17.71 million.

After the Unity Party assumed office in January 2024, Liberia imported approximately US$163.56 million worth of commercial rice during 2024, representing a decline of US$48.91 million compared to the year 2023. The average monthly rice import value in 2024 was approximately US$13.63 million.

However, data from the CBL’s Liberia Financial Statistics 2026, First Edition show that commercial rice imports increased significantly in 2025 to approximately US$242.91 million, with an average monthly import value of US$20.24 million.

Did the Unity Party Reduce Rice Importation by 35% in 2025?

The available CBL data do not support the claim that rice importation declined by 35% in 2025.

The data show that rice imports decreased from US$212.47 million in 2023 to US$163.56 million in 2024, representing a decline of about 23%.

However, rice imports subsequently increased from US$163.56 million in 2024 to US$242.91 million in 2025, representing an increase of about 48.5%.

Moreover, when compared with the last full year before the Unity Party took office, rice imports in 2025 were about 14.3% higher than in 2023, rising from US$212.47 million to US$242.91 million.

Conclusion

Based on data published by the Central Bank of Liberia, George P. Lobbo’s claim that the Unity Party government reduced rice importation by 35% in 2025 is misleading.

While commercial rice imports declined in 2024 compared with 2023, the trend reversed in 2025, when rice import spending increased substantially to US$242.91 million, surpassing both the 2024 and 2023 levels.