Liberia Diaspora Exchange Partners with Philimena.com to Spur Businesses at Home and Abroad

The Liberia Diaspora Exchange (LDx) with support from USAID, has entered into a partnership agreement with Philimena.com as a social media ambassador for the promotion of virtual business exchanges between entrepreneurs, business owners, service providers, and professionals in Liberia and the Diaspora. 

According to an LDx release, the agreement brings together several diaspora community organizations (DCOs), current partners of LDx, including the Liberia Community Organization of the District of Columbia (LCA-DC), the Liberia Association of Metropolitan Atlanta (LAMA) and the Liberia Business Association USA (LIBA-USA).

It aims to facilitate virtual business exchanges between Liberia and its diaspora through two platforms. The first platform, the LDx Community App (https://liberian-diaspora-exchange.mn.co) intends to facilitate engagements across individuals, communities and professional organizations. The goal of the second platform, the Business Exchange web platform (www.liberiadx.com) is to promote businesses, business exchanges, and investments in Liberia and across the Diaspora.

Speaking on the signing of the MoU,  Royda Urey/Philimena.com expressed that “she is excited about this partnership because of the potential to connect so many Liberians at home and abroad for positive exchanges to support each other.” 

Jackson George, Executive Director of the Liberia Business Association of the USA (LIBA-USA), speaking on behalf of the Diaspora Community Organizations (DCOs), thanked the EIG team and USAID “for supporting this important and timely initiative for real business and investment exchanges..

“The Liberian Diaspora’s contribution to the economy for the year 2021 was over US$300 million, according to the World Bank,” Jackson noted. “This initiative will allow us to better network, pool our resources, and promote one another in business to create jobs for our people.” 

Also speaking,  Lashea Howard Clinton, a member of the EIG team and Advisor to the LDx project for this component of the project, expressed her thanks and excitement in the partnership with Royda and her team. 

“We are excited to work with Royda and her team on promoting LDx and expanding our social media presence as the LDx Social Media Ambassador.”

In March 2023, USAID, through Nathan Inc. signed a Grant agreement with Ecocap Investment Group LLC to design, develop, and execute the Liberian Diaspora Exchange (LDx) initiative. The Liberia Diaspora aims to reinvigorate and harness the power of Liberia's Diaspora communities through increasing awareness and ownership of the Liberia Diaspora Engagement Policy (LDEP) while promoting collective cooperation to drive strategic and targeted investments in Liberia. LDx utilizes information technology innovations to facilitate exchanges and interactions with Liberian businesses both in the diaspora and Liberia. Overall, the LDX provides sustainable vehicles for investment promotion, business opportunity, investment matching, and community generated experiences.

With more than 18,000 subscribers and over a million views on her YouTube channel, Philimena.com exists “to inform the world of the treasures that the continent of Africa has to offer, while erasing the misconceptions that plague the continent.”
The LDX promotes the five guiding principles of the LDEP through sustainable innovation. LDX purports that increased access to investment information and business interactions will lead to increased partnerships, support, and investments in Liberia by the Liberian Diaspora. To learn more about LDx, visit us at www.liberiadx.com or (https://liberian-diaspora-exchange.mn.co).