AMBASSADOR CHARLES A. MINOR (C. Dir.)

CHAIRMAN OF THE COMMITTEE

The Chairman of the Rice Committee is a very seasoned professional with a distinguished career spanning academia, international development, banking and diplomacy. His extensive contributions to Liberia, Africa and the international community have been marked by good leadership, team spirit and commitment to institutional development.

Early Career & Public Service

Ambassador Minor began his career as a lecturer at the University of Liberia and a leader of the student Christian movement at home and internationally. He later transitioned to the Liberia Produce Marketing Corporation (LPMC), a state-owned corporation that was involved in export marketing and agriculture development. During his ten years there, he served as Personal and Project Manager, Corporate Secretary and Deputy General Manager, and LPMC, with an annual turnover of around US$66 million, was paying dividends, often to the tune of US$8 million, creating wealth for farmers and the state. When the 1980 coup occurred, Charles Minor, as LPMC’s Acting General Manager, was incarcerated along with other leaders of state-owned enterprises and political leaders. Upon his release from the Post Stockade, Mr. Minor became Vice President and Special Assistant to the President of the National Housing & Savings Bank, where he played an important role in the management of the US$50 million syndicated financing for the importation of crude oil for the Liberia Petroleum Refinery Corporation (LPRC) in support of the country’s energy needs.

International Consultancy & Diplomacy

In 1983, Charles Minor returned to academia in the United States for further studies and teaching before becoming an Arthur D. Little Consultant. He was the lead consultant for the World Bank’s sponsored project at the Central Bank of Ghana that trained over 300 Ghanian bankers and entrepreneurs including John Agyekum Kufuor, who later became President of Ghana. Following the World Bank’s assignment, Charles, his spouse, Mrs. Comfort Minor and Ghana’s former Senior Minister, Yao Osafo Maafo, co-founded Consultant Management Enterprises in Ghana which became one of the leading consulting and capacity building firms, that carried out a wide range of consulting assignments in Southern, East and West Africa. He has been a lecturer at the University of Ghana at Legon. In 1993, Mr. Minor was head-hunted to become Human Resource & Management Development Director of the African Management Services Company (AMSCO), a Netherland based special purpose corporation established by the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) and the International Finance Corporation (IFC) to support private sector development across Africa. Prior to leaving AMSCO, Charles Minor had become Deputy Managing Director and AMSCO was intervening in the management and capacity building of over 120 companies in 25 African countries. Following the Accra Accord that brought peace to his native Liberia, Charles Minor was appointed the country’s Ambassador to the United States and Canada. He served during the Transitional Government, a period of very serious national challenges. He was reappointed by President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf to continue to represent Liberia in Washington and Ottawa, and for a year was also assigned to the United Nations in New York. It was under his watch that Liberia obtained considerable debt relief, had its security sector reformed, President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf was invited to address Congress, she was awarded the U.S. highest civilian honor and President George W. Bush and his wife visited Liberia as his final stop in Africa before leaving the White House. Since his return home after almost thirty years abroad, Charles Minor has served as Chairman of the Board of Tax Appeals and was the leading player in the establishment of AFRILAND First Bank (Liberia) Limited. He continues to serve as Vice Chair of the Board of that Bank. Mr. Minor is an alumnus of the University of Liberia and has two graduate degrees in management, manpower and development economics. He is a Chartered Director by the Institute of Directors of Unite Kingdom.