Welcome to Monrovia

Visitors to the Liberian capital of Monrovia who pick up a new tourist map will find directions to the city’s historic highlights, including the Masonic lodge, one of the oldest in Africa, and remnants of the old city built by freed American slaves who settled there in the early 1800s. But they may be surprised to also find locations of the local sewer commission, an apocalyptic-looking advert for four-wheel-drives, and a handful of streets with no names.

Despite these incongruent features, the map is being hailed as a major step towards normality in a city better known for its burnt-out buildings than for its historic sites and cocktail bars. Thousands of copies of the map have been distributed highlighting restaurants, gyms and casinos.