This special report was published by Financial Times and can be viewed here. A brief excerpt is being given below:

Call it the seven-year itch. After so much focus on expanding the economy and bringing in investors” many have argued it is time to slow down” and to put the correct processes and policies in place to make sure that Liberia – and all Liberians – benefit from the country’s growth.

Much of the unease stems from the natural resource sector” which has historically driven the economy and will do for the foreseeable future. In the rush for short-terms gains – signing bonuses” and permit payments – the country’s long-term earning potential and even stability is at risk” environmental campaigners and analysts say.

Take forestry. A recent report by national and foreign campaigners showed that 40 per cent of the country’s forest had been awarded to timber companies in the two years to 2011 through the misuse of permits intended for allow small-scale logging. Communities living on land signed over to corporations often had no idea about the transactions.

The palm oil sector” which has the potential to create tens of thousands of jobs and become one of the main foreign exchange earners” has also had problems.

More than 600″000 hectares of land has been promised to plantation companies” most of it to reputable ones from Malaysia and Singapore. Yet some of the concession agreements afforded little thought to the people in the areas that are supposed to be farmed. Angry confrontations have already occurred in some places” and planting is behind schedule. Read more here.