The 'difficulties of tax' in Liberia Liberia is a small country and, with a population of around 3.5m, the Today programme has been looking to it to provide insights into life in Africa more generally. Now the government of Liberia has big ambitions for the country; it aims to be free from dependence on aid in the next ten years, and to be a middle income country by 2030. There are Ministry of Finance road signs everywhere with the slogan: "Pay your taxes to develop Mama Liberia." However as Today presenter Evan Davis discovers in Gbarnga in Bong County, getting taxes out of a people mired in poverty and still recovering from the chaos of civil war is proving challenging. One local business owner explained that although he did not like paying taxes, "it is good to play taxes because in future you see it."