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Businessman Bob Johnson Invests In Liberia

Long an advocate for Africa's economic development, African-American business leader Bob Johnson spoke about a plan to provide flight service from the U.S. to Liberia.

In June, Delta Air Lines is due to provide direct service from Atlanta to Monrovia, the capital of Liberia.

Commerce is much better when there's a direct flight to the destination, Johnson said.

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"One of the things that I find is that when it becomes more difficult to make money in your normal lanes some people look to make it in emerging nations," he told Tell Me More host Michel Martin. "Emerging nations offer returns that many developed nation's don't."

The initiative, announced yesterday in Washington by Liberian President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, is aimed at rebuilding her war-torn country after years of civil war destroyed its infrastructure.

Johnson also said that he's building a hotel there.

He is a majority owner of the National Basketball Association's Charlotte Bobcats, co-founder of Black Entertainment Television and head of The RLJ Cos.

Copyright 2022 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.

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