Axel Addy

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.[2]

Axel Marcel Addy
Minister for Commerce & Industry
In office
April 2013 – January 2018
Preceded byMiatta Beslow
Succeeded byDr. Wilson Tarpeh[1]
Deputy Minister of Commerce and Industry
In office
August 2012 – April 2013
PresidentEllen Johnson Sirleaf
Succeeded byStephen Marvie
Country Representative (Liberia), Population Services International (PSI)
Personal details
Born (1976-08-28) August 28, 1976
Monrovia, Liberia
Alma materUniversity of California, Los Angeles (UCLA)
California State University, Long Beach (CSULB)

Early life

Axel Addy was born and raised in Monrovia, Liberia to mother Mai Stevens and Father Judson Wendell Addy. He attended elementary school at Phillips and Barnes, followed by Montserrado International School and Joseph Jenkins Roberts United Methodist School in junior high before leaving Liberia for the United States due to civil conflict in Liberia. He attended Church Farm School, where he graduated with honors and was recognized for his community service and received scholarships from Rotary International and the Union League of Philadelphia. He is one of ten siblings, five brothers and four sisters. In his early years, he was raised by his maternal grandmother, Mary "Swede" Johnson in the Mamba Point area of central Monrovia, Liberia.

He is married to Fatu Addy or Monrovia and has one daughter Axelle Marcela Addy.

Education

Addy holds a Masters of Arts in African Studies with emphasis in International Development from the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) and a BA in Political Science with emphasis in Public Law from California State University, Long Beach (CSULB).

Career

Prior to joining government, Addy served as Liberia's first Country Representative for Populations Services International, a leading social marketing global health organization, where he set up the PSI Liberia platform managing a multi-million dollar portfolio. He served in that capacity for four years. During his tenure he is known for the successful launch of Liberia's first your run radio talk show on reproductive health call "Let's Talk About Sex," and the design and launch of the integrated reproductive health program call SmartChoice, which aim to prevent the spread of HIV among sexually active youth utilizing PSI's behavioral change communications and social marketing innovations to launch reproductive health clubs in school, initiatives such as Live at the Y to promote HIV testing among high youth and the launch of Liberia first social marketing product, Star Condoms where over 840,000 units were sold in the first year. In his fight to reduce under five mortality due to waterborne illness, in partnership with UNICEF and USAID, he launched WaterGuard, a water treatment solution to support the prevention of diarrhea and other waterborne disease for children under five. Through his leadership, Addy raised millions of dollars in funding for SmartChoice and the PSI Liberia Child Survival Program working with major partners including UNFPA, UNICEF, USAID, and the Global Fund.

Cabinet Minister

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.

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.

For his service to country, Addy was recognized by Ellen Johnson Sirleaf with one of the highest national honors by inducting him as Grand Commander, Order of the star of Africa into the Order of the Pioneers of Liberia or more formally Grand Order of the Most Venerable Order of the Knighthood of the Order of the Pioneers of Liberia.

References
  1. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2018-03-30. Retrieved 2018-03-30.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  2. Miles, Tom. "Rebounding from Ebola, Liberia gets clearance to join WTO".
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