**US Secretary State Hillary Clinton is due to arrive in Monrovia on the sixth stage of her seven-nation African tour.**During her visit, Mrs Clinton will hold talks with Liberian President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf and address parliament.
Expectations are high, says the BBC’s West Africa correspondent, John James, as America is seen by many in Liberia as an old friend.
Liberia remains one of Africa’s poorest countries, crippled by the effects of a savage civil war in the 1990s.
Around 250,000 people were killed in the fighting and thousands of refugees continue to shelter in neighbouring countries.
Closed chequebook
Our correspondent says everything in Liberia, which was founded by free slaves from America more than 150 years ago, draws its inspiration from the US “motherland” - including the flag, the government and local architecture.
CLINTON’S AFRICAN TOUR
- Kenya
- South Africa
- Nigeria
- Angola
- Liberia
- Democratic Republic of Congo
- Cape Verde
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But Liberian infrastructure remains in a desperate state, with electricity and water being rare commodities.
Our correspondent says that if Liberians imagine Mrs Clinton will come with an open cheque book, they will be disappointed.
Mrs Clinton has repeatedly called on the countries she has visited on this tour to end corruption and encourage Africans to seize the opportunities available.
At her previous stop in Nigeria, she urged officials to embrace broad political reform and ease tensions that have led to sectarian violence and disrupted energy production in the Niger Delta.
She is due to leave Liberia late on Thursday for Cape Verde,from where she will fly home to Washington on Friday evening.