MONROVIA, Liberia, Sept. 14 -- Liberia's Commerce Ministry gets a new face today as businessman and former Deputy Public Works Minister Stephen Marka Yekeson Jr. assumes the acting ministerial post, bringing with him a career that has moved between government, corporate leadership and entrepreneurship. With Liberia seeking to expand local enterprise, strengthen trade and create more value from what the country produces, Yekeson enters a portfolio where his private-sector experience could prove particularly relevant.

By Philip Freeman, contributing writer

President Joseph Nyuma Boakai appointed Yekeson Acting Minister of Commerce and Industry on September 11, replacing Magdalene E. Dagoseh, who is being reassigned. His appointment was pa...