Economy
The county contains the most and the largest markets in the entire country. One of these markets is in the Red Light neighborhood of Paynesville where a variety of consumer goods are sold out of wheelbarrows and old intermodal containers. Markets include daily markets, primarily for food, and weekly markets. The Red Light market and the Duala markets serve as distribution markets for incoming goods from the rural parts of Liberia.
Due to a lack of formal employment, many engage in informal businesses and trading. As of October 2006, employment in the county is primarily self-employment with only 17% of households having members that were salaried employees. The largest income generation activity was through petty trade or small business, with 46% of households engaged in these activities. This was followed by 25% for making charcoal, 19% for temporary employment, and 18% for palm oil/nut production and sales. The national government is the counties single largest employer.
Agriculture is small part of economy, with the main crops consisting of cassava (90% of all crops), rice (16%), other vegetables (18%), corn (16%), sweet potatoes or eddoes (8%), plantain or bananas (8%), and pulses (1%). Livestock is mainly pigs, chickens, and ducks. Commercial crops grown include cocoa, coconuts, sugarcane, pineapple, kola nuts, palm oil, and rubber. Some palm oil is produced on government owned farms in Mt. Coffee and Fendell.
Rubber plantations are located in the Todee and Careysburg districts. These include the Morris American Rubber Company in Todee that employs 600 and the Liberia Resources Corporation in Careysburg with 300 employees. Overall rubber production accounts for eight percent of household income in Montserrado County. Small scale mineral extraction occurs for gold and diamonds. Other resource extraction activities include logging and fishing.
The Central Bank of Liberia is located in Monrovia, with other commercial banks also operating in Montserrado County, including the International Bank. The main port is the Freeport of Monrovia, the country's busiest port. The port has one wharf and four piers, though one pier cannot be used due to a sunken ship. Air travel available at Spriggs Payne Airport in Monrovia and Roberts International Airport in Robertsfield. Roberts is the only international airport in Liberia, and Payne along with Roberts have the only paved runways in the nation. Limited public transportation is available in the capital via the Monrovia Transit Authority. Passenger and freight rail service is available from the private company Geoservices between Monrovia and the Bong mines.
Read more about this topic: Montserrado County
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