MONROVIA, Nov. 13 -- Three decades ago, Liberia needed West Africa's soldiers to help end its civil war. Today, it has a chance to help shape the region's economic future.

By Rodney D. Sieh

Benoni W. Urey, a Liberian businessman best known as a founding shareholder of the mobile network Lonestar Cell MTN, has been named Liberia's representative on the ECOWAS Business Council. The council is a new advisory body chaired by Nigerian industrialist Aliko Dangote, Africa's richest man, and is meant to give the private sector a direct line to the presidents of West Africa.

The appointment comes at a delicate moment. The regional bloc has lost three members, its trade ambitions have stalled, and its energy map is being redrawn by one giant Nig...