Liberia is among the countries worst hit by the Ebola epidemic that has killed thousands and the outbreak has had a drastic impact on the economy of this West African nation.
Liberian President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf said on Sunday that the country needs two years to regain its economic footing after it was ravaged by the deadly epidemic.
The country has moved to increase infrastructure and access to electricity as well as diversify its economy.
The country is already on its track to rebuilding after the civil war ended in 2003 but the highly fatal hemorrhagic disease, which currently has no commercially available vaccine and cure, struck over 18 months ago hampering the efforts.
The Ebola virus has so far killed 4,800 people in Liberia and 11,000 people in West Africa. The disease has also raised fears of spreading globally.
In a bid to help the economy recover, Johnson Sirleaf has made a call for American investors to increase their investments in the continent by working with individuals, private sector or governments.
She said that Liberia and other African countries are gifted with natural resources but because of infrastructural deficit require partnerships to fast-track growth and development.
The U.S. has already approved a $257 million grant under the Millennium Challenge Compact program that Johnson Sirleaf said could be dedicated to expanding the power capacity of the country.
Of Liberia's 4.3 million people, less than 2 percent has access to electricity. The country's Mount Coffee dam used to power a third of the households in Liberia but this was battered by the civil war, which began in 1989 and ended in 2003.
"We said, 'What is the area that could provide the best impetus for getting our economy moving at a higher pace?' Power came out above anything else," Johnson Sirleaf said. "If you don't have power, you install the best of machines and they blow out.
Johnson Sirleaf expressed her hope that the dam will be fully rehabilitated by 2016 after the Ebola epidemic delayed the work.
Liberia was once again declared free of the Ebola virus on Sept. 3. It was earlier declared Ebola-free in May but new incidences emerged in June possibly as a result of sexual contact. The virus is known to survive in the semen beyond the incubation period of 21 days.
