Amara M. Konneh (born December 7, 1972) is a Liberian national who serves as a Senator from Gbarpolu County, Western Liberia. Previously, he served as a senior advisor for Africa for the World Bank. In this role, he advised the World Bank on regional economic integration to create economic hubs for value chains and helped build strategic partnerships with Africa's regional economic commissions. Before that, he served as lead advisor for the Bank's engagements in countries affected by fragility, conflict, violence, and forced displacement with emphasis on Ethiopia, Eritrea, Kenya, and Nigeria.
In the 2023 general election, Konneh was elected to the Senate of Liberia, representing Gbarpolu County as an independent.
Amara Konneh leveraged technology to showcase his ethical leadership when he prevented an election heist by the incumbent Liberian Government in the country’s 2023 elections.
Upon winning his senate race in Gbarpolu County, Liberia, and before his public endorsement of candidate Joseph Boakai, he analyzed the first round results to establish a winning path for Mr. Boakai and his Unity Party Alliance. With his fifty-one percent victory projection for Mr. Boakai, the candidate asked him to coordinate the campaign in the runoff. Mr. Konneh deployed an elaborate election monitoring system using mobile phone technology and laptop computers with thousands of staff which he coordinated from a secure Situation Room. Another critical component he added to the strategy was security to protect poll watchers and prevent double voting.
His contribution to the opposition’s victory in Liberia came to the forefront when he made an unprecedented move to begin announcing the results ahead of the National Election Commission (NEC). This bold action not only showcased his expertise and confidence in the accuracy of the data his team was transmitting from the precincts but also highlighted his commitment to transparency in the democratic process.
His nightly announcements ahead of the NEC became a turning point in the election, setting a new standard for openness and accountability. Even the NEC officials were unable to challenge his results. Ethical Leadership played a pivotal role in running an effective election situation room, where he and his team worked tirelessly to protect the Liberian people’s votes. The Situation Room not only ensured the security of the electoral system but also swiftly responded to any potential threats or irregularities.
Background Konneh joined the World Bank Group in May 2016 as head of the Global Hub for Fragility, Conflict, Violence and Forced Displacement (FCV) in Nairobi serving more than 35 countries in Africa, Asia, and the Middle East. In this position, he successfully coordinated the World Bank's strategic priorities in countries affected by fragility, conflict, violence, and refugees on the ground. He led the Nairobi-based team to provide operational and analytical support on fragility, conflict, violence and refugee issues to affected countries and built a community of practice for knowledge management and exchange; and managed relationships with the donor community in Nairobi on behalf of the Bank. This work took Mr. Konneh to some of the world's hotspots including Somalia, Myanmar, Syria, Afghanistan, among others where he contributed substantially to the Bank's support to these countries. He is the recipient of the prestigious Harvard University's Kennedy School of Government's 2016 Alumni Public Service Award that recognizes an alumna who has significantly improved the human condition at the local, state/provincial, national or international levels. Mr. Konneh was also named Africa's Finance Minister of the Year 2014 by The Banker magazine, a subsidiary of the Financial Times for his efforts to reform, stabilize and grow the post-conflict Liberian economy. He was featured in Africa's New Leaders; mentioned in the following books: ‘Emerging Africa: How 17 Countries Are Leading the Way by Dr. Steve Radelet, This Child Will be Great by Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, and Choosing My Hero by Riva Levinson; and featured in ‘Africa’s Reformers: Re-Writing Governance’ by former British Prime Minister Tony Blair's Africa Governance Initiative.
Early life and career Konneh was born on December 7, 1972, in Balla Bassa, Gbamah District, Gbarpolu County, Liberia to the late Majumah Konneh and the late Mamadee Konneh. He spent his formative years in Balla Bassa Town then moved to Monrovia in 1985 in order to continue his formal education having completed elementary school. He graduated from Monrovia College (high school) in 1990.
Shortly after graduating high school, Konneh became a refugee in Guinea and established a free school for Liberian refugees with proceeds from corn and beans he harvested from his farm. His leadership at the school led to an offer by the International Rescue Committee to serve as the Education Coordinator for Liberian and Sierra Leonean refugee schools throughout Beyla Prefecture in the Guinea Forest Region. He served in this capacity from 1991 - 1993 and supervised the development of 18 community schools, including the first high school in the Beyla Prefecture, and coordinated curriculum development, teacher training, and resource mobilization."Remarks at Launch of the 10th Anniversary of the International Year of Volunteers," University of Liberia, August 5, 2011
Upon emigration to the United States in 1993, he enrolled at Drexel University where he was awarded the Anthony J. Drexel Academic and Leadership Scholarship and earned a Bachelor of Science degree in information systems with distinction, following which he earned a graduate degree in management from Pennsylvania State University. He worked at Vanguard Group of Investment Companies, a Fortune 500 Company in Valley Forge, Pennsylvania where he was recruited into the highly competitive and prestigious Smart Leadership Program upon graduation. After more than a decade of working with development foundations and as a policy, financial systems analyst and project manager in Guinea and the United States, Konneh returned to Liberia to serve his country in 2006.
Career Konneh's career began at the Vanguard Group of Investment Companies in 1999, recruited through the Vanguard Group's Smart Leadership Program. Before that, he worked briefly with the International Rescue Committee as a coordinator for refugee schools in Guinea, West Africa.
He is a graduate of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s Sloan School of Management where he holds a master’s degree in business administration, the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University where he received a master's degree in public administration with a concentration in political and economic development. He also holds a master's degree from Pennsylvania State University and a bachelor's degree from Drexel University in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
Before that, Konneh served as Liberia's Minister of Finance and Development Planning from February 2012 to April 2016. He is credited with helping to stabilize the Liberian economy from the effects of a protracted civil war, the twin shocks of commodity price declines for Liberia's primary commodities – rubber and iron ore – and the Ebola pandemic that almost brought the Liberian economy to its knees in 2014 by implementing prudent fiscal and structural policies for macroeconomic stability. Under his stewardship and even with the devastating impact of Ebola and commodity price decline on the economy, the average growth rate for the Liberian economy was 6 percent; average inflation was 8 percent; while the average exchange rate was US$1 to LD$84 and average budget deficits were 3.4 percent. He maintained timely payment of civil servants’ salaries and mobilized unprecedented financing for the Ellen Johnson Administration's post-conflict reconstruction projects. Before the Ebola crisis and after commodity prices declined affecting iron ore and rubber, Konneh championed reforms that led to the establishment of the Liberia Revenue Authority to enhance fiscal policymaking and shore up domestic revenue mobilization. His radical stance on keeping expenditures under control caused the Liberian Senate to sanction him for prison, a decision that was overturned by the Liberian Supreme Court.
Konneh regularly publishes his opinions on governance and political economy issues affecting the world and Africa, particularly in post-conflict settings. Some of his recent writings include (1) Democracy in West Africa, the ‘road less travelled’?; (2)What the West Can Learn From Africa’s Ebola Response; (3) The Economics of Ebola (4) Ebola isn't just a health crisis - It's a social & economic one too
Deputy Chief of Staff Upon the election of President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf in 2005, Konneh was named Deputy Chief of Staff for Policy and Communications within the Ministry of State for Presidential Affairs. In this role, he spearheaded several initiatives including: Reforming the management practices at the Ministry of State through a performance improvement program; Coordinating the development of policies and communications strategy; Organizing Liberia's first conference on Information and Communication Technologies for Development (ICT4D); and Improving the Executive Mansion's relationship with the Liberian Media by giving them increased access to the Presidency and creating better working conditions." The Honorable Amara M. Konneh, Minister of Planning & Economic Affairs, Republic of Liberia, speaks at Heinz College Convocation “Leadership for Development,” Center for International Policy and Innovation website, Carnegie Mellon University, 11/16/2009
After a year and a half of serving in this capacity, Konneh took a sabbatical in order to enroll at the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University, where he earned a master's degree in public administration with an emphasis in political and economic development and a certificate in Public Policy.
Upon completion of his studies at Harvard, Minister Konneh returned to Liberia and was appointed by President Sirleaf as the 16th Minister of Planning and Economic Affairs of the Republic of Liberia.
Minister of Planning and Economic Affairs