In a powerful moment of history and kinship, President of Barbados, Dame Sandra Mason declared that Liberians no longer need visas to travel to Barbados. She made the announcement before President Joseph N. Boakai, dignitaries, and eminent citizens at an elaborate lunch held in her honor at the Monrovia City Hall, on Friday.
President Mason presented her country as a “home away from home” for Liberians, saying they can enter the tiny Caribbean Island country freely. “You’re not coming as tourists,” she said. “You’re coming home.”
Her visit marks the deepening of historical, cultural, and diplomatic ties between the Caribbean Island and Africa’s first republic–165 years after Barbadians first arrived in Liberia. President Mason emphasized the emotional and cultural bond shared between the two nations: “I appreciate the warm welcome from Your Excellency and the people of Liberia. 165 years ago, there was an unbreakable bond formed between Barbados and Liberia, one I came to experience for myself,” she said.
The Barbadian delegation includes the Minister of Culture and Heritage, highlighting a clear intent to build sustainable partnerships in cultural exchange and mutual development. Recalling that over 500 Liberians visited Barbados last year, she added: “I believe you’ve returned and spread the word. Now more Barbadians want to know not just Liberia, but the whole African continent. We believe many of those who came here from Barbados were originally from all across Africa. And now we want to reconnect.”
President Mason announced that all Liberians are now free to travel to Barbados without needing a visa and urged the Liberian government to consider reciprocating the gesture. “If you can come visit me, I should be able to visit you too without any hindrance,” she said.
President Boakai welcomed her with heartfelt words: “This is a very historic visit. We are excited–not just because of what it represents now, but what it means for the future. This is part of our reconciliation and realignment with the family we lost touch with.”
He also highlighted that this renewed relationship is a chance for Liberians to trace their roots and reaffirm their heritage. “I’m sure some of you have just begun tracing your roots. Soon you will find that you’re no stranger here,” Boakai said.
With a visa waiver, what can Liberia benefit from the small Caribbean state?
No one has a better response to this question than Julius Jeh, a popular Liberian broadcast journalist, highlighting a shift in mentality and national consciousness.
With a visa waiver now in place, Liberia has the opportunity to study and learn from the success of Barbados, a smaller Caribbean state that boasts a higher income and standard of living compared to Liberia. Jeh highlighted this context in a statement on social media urging Liberians to take a critical look at Barbados and learn how that country has succeeded.
He emphasized the importance of looking beyond population size and land mass when considering development and prosperity–noting that good or smart governance is the way instead.
Jeh has a point. Barbados spans 430 to 439 square kilometers with a population exceeding 300 thousand as of 2024, according to data from the CIA facebook page. But its GDP is double Liberia’s at a projected US$7.55 billion for 2025, according to Statista. Liberia comes in at US$ 3.97 billion (2025, National Budget).
The country’s 2024/2025 budget is set at US$2.33 billion. Its 2025/2026 budget plans for a total US$5.13 billion expenditure, reflecting ambitious development goals. Liberia’s budget is US$880.6 million for 2025, with a promise to focus on agricultural and rural development, improved service delivery, social infrastructure, and job creation.
Barbados’ spending shows strategic focus. As of 2021, it allocates 6.5% of its GDP towards education and 8.1% to Health.
Impressive statistics show proof of this generous public spending. The country boasts a high literacy rate of 99.6% as of 2021. About 98.8% of Barbadians have significant access to improved water sources and 100% have access to sanitation facilities. Plus, there is a physician ratio of 2.96 per 1000 population as of 2022.
Liberia’s commitments and outcomes fall far below that bar. The 2025 budget projects 0.8% expenditure on sanitation and health combined (US$7.6 million), and 0.6% for education (US$5.3 million).
The results, then, are unsurprising. According to World Bank data for 2022, just 32% of Liberians have access to electricity. About 77% of the population has no access to basic sanitation services– that includes the 46% living in rural areas and the 64% of the urban population living in slums.
And, in a country where the youth account for 63 percent of the population is less than 25 years old (UN, 2024), the World Bank reports that just 77% of them are literate, with 44.7% having completed the lower secondary level of education.
In light of the economic realities, Jeh noted that Liberia can benefit from Barbados–not just the indelible historical ties between the two countries, but by means of a mental revolution.
Jeh suggests that, by adopting a model of governance similar to Barbados, Liberia could potentially accelerate its development and advancement without solely relying on aid.
“Barbados’s population can come from Liberia’s more than 17 times – okay, Nimba County’s population of more than 620,000 (2022 census) is twice the population of Barbados. Yet, its 2024/2025 budget is approximately three times Liberia’s budget, not to mention the projected 2025/2026 budget,” he said. “This, together with all of the other positive areas mentioned about Barbados, should tell us it is not just about population, but doing governance smartly and innovatively to meet the needs of the people.”
He also highlights the value of knowledge exchange between the two countries, proposing educational scholarships for students and opportunities for policy experts to learn from Barbados’ success.
“I recommend that rather than looking out for aid, our Government should include in the discussions how some of our policy people and experts in different fields of growth and development can go to Barbados and learn about how they are doing, even with limited resources. Singapore and other countries used this model of learning from other countries to grow and develop theirs.
The journalist, who was very disappointed that the visit of the Bajan President did not receive much publicity from the government’s communications arms, urged the government to send policy experts to the Caribbean country to learn more about its story.
“The government should sponsor some students on scholarships to Barbados and other similarly situated countries whose cultures, history and evolution align with ours. The models of highly developed powers may be too far and frustrating for us to grasp and develop, but with those of Barbados, I believe we can be better inspired and aspire for the better,” he said.
“Rather than mocking the President and the Government for this visit because it isn’t a big-name country with big aid donations, and rather than the Government itself and its supporters adopting a lukewarm approach to the visit, a new thinking should emerge that sees us being able to do it because Barbados is doing it.”
Rather than focusing on immediate aid, Jeh recommends leveraging Liberia’s resources and human capital to progress towards becoming a prosperous nation. By adopting a mindset of learning and self-improvement, Liberia can draw inspiration from Barbados’ development trajectory and work towards its own sustainable growth and success.
“Let’s move beyond thinking aid and what we can immediately get free. We’ve got more resources and human beings than Barbados. We can use their story to goad ourselves into using our human beings and our resources to build for ourselves a great, prosperous nation. This, for me, makes this visit more historic and more significant,” he continued.
Despite some public puzzlement about the relevance of the Barbadian President’s visit, it continues a wave of reconnection between the Caribbean and Africa, driven by shared history, ancestry, and a desire to build future-facing partnerships in trade, education, culture, and people-to-people relations.
President Mason concluded her statements at City Hall with a call for lasting collaboration: “This visit should not end here. It’s the beginning of something great. I came here because this means serious business for us.” Her presence in Liberia serves not just as a political gesture but as a personal and national embrace of shared heritage and commercial opportunity.
