Axel Addy

Upon acceding to the position of Minister, Addy commenced his rebranding agenda embedded in the Ministry's three-year strategic plan, by redirecting and developing several initiatives that has led to: the restructuring of the Ministry separating the Department of Commerce and Industry to the Department of Commerce and the Department of Industry and with the passage of the Small Business Empowerment Act, the new Department of Small Business Administration; the installation of automated systems, the initiation of reforms in the inspectorate; the ongoing reforms of the procedures of import and export of commodities; the launch of the annual SME Conference and the launch of the Liberia Innovation Fund for Entrepreneurs to provide alternative financing to SMEs; the international entrepreneurial exchange summit; the creation of the Special Projects Implementation Unit to facilitate donor projects’ implementation; the development of the National Trade Policy, Export Strategies (Oil Palm, Cocoa, Fisheries, Tourism, Rubberwood, and Rubber; the WTO Accession Strategy and post Accession Strategy; the facilitation of several missions to include private sector to Indonesia, India, Japan, China, US, and Europe. Addy served as Chief Negotiator where he led the fast track historic accession of Liberia to the World Trade Organization in December 2016. Through his role he facilitated the passage of critical legislature including the Intellectual Property Law, the Competition Law, the Foreign Trade Law, the Special Economic Zone Law, the Monrovia Industrial Park Regulations, Inspection Regulations, Intellectual Property Regulation, Import Permit Regulations and the ratification of several protocols including the WTO protocol on accession.

Honorable Axel Marcel Addy served as Minister of Commerce and Industry under Her Excellency, Madame Ellen Johnson Sirleaf from April 2013 to January 2018. During his tenure as Minister of Commerce, Addy redirected the Ministry's core function to focus on investment diversification beyond extractive industries to include investment in agriculture and tourism; empowering small and medium enterprises to formalize and improve their access to market, finance and capacity development opportunities; industrial promotion in agriculture for food security with emphasis on agricultural processing and value addition; and integration in the world economy through regional and multilateral trading systems. Addy was Chief Negotiator of Liberia's successful accession to the World Trade Organization. Through this process Honorable Addy facilitated the passage and ratification of numerous laws and protocols for the modernization of the Liberian economy.

Addy was first appointed to serve in Ellen Johnson Sirleaf's Government in May 2012, as Deputy Minister for Administration at the Ministry of Commerce and Industry. He was later appointed Deputy Minister for Commerce and Industry in August 2012.