Liberia prides itself as the only country in Africa that was never colonized. Yet we have Government Officials behaving as if they work at the beck and call of a private Indian owned company -- ArcelorMittal. Just like much of Africa, as recently as the late 50s and early 60s, all three of Liberia's immediate neighbors -- Guinea, Sierra Leone, and Ivory Coast were under the fist and control of European powers. We can have debates about how much has been achieved by us comparatively, but that is another discussion. Today, we are focused on what ArcelorMittal has done and wants to continue to do in Liberia for another 25 years -- and that is continuing to treat Liberia like she is a Corporate Colony.
ArcelorMittal, a global corporate conglomerate that is making bare minimum investments in Liberia, with very little to show after 20 years of controlling major sovereign infrastructure assets, is trying to maintain its economic grip on Liberia for another 25 years.
They recently submitted a laundry list of demands to the Government of Liberia, which is insulting at best and a sinister effort to maintain their monopolistic claws over valuable national infrastructure that belongs to the people of Liberia, while they continue to make bare minimum investments in Liberia. The problem is that our government appears too weak to stand up to ArcelorMittal.
Even the President of Liberia referred to Yekepa where ArcelorMittal has had its mining operations for two decades as a virtual ghost town. ArcelorMittal has single handedly through questionable tactics of so-called "government and public relations" managed to yield unchecked influence through the corridors of power in Liberia and gotten away with everything from defaulting on its commitments in iron ore production, mismanagement and failure to maintain the railway between Yekepa to Buchanan resulting in multiple derailments and fatality, environmental degradation resulting in multiple EPA fines, failure to comply with debt to equity ratio as outlined in their Mineral Development Agreement (MDA), among other could have gotten from open access to our rail and port. All of which are well documented in communications between the Government of Liberia and ArcelorMittal, that are in the possession of this paper. We celebrate and award ArcelorMittal for paying annual taxes, as if they are not supposed to do so. Let's do a close audit of their operations and examine the gains over the last two decades, compared to what they have truly invested in Liberia, then compare that to what Liberia could have gotten from open access to our rail and port, and let's see who comes out on the upside.
Unfortunately, the people we expect to protect Liberia from these neo-colonial hijackers of sovereign assets are allowing ArcelorMittal to control them by their noses. The mere fact that the National Investment Commission (NIC) which is the gateway to foreign investors is willing to negotiate an MDA that is completely in conflict with an Executive Order by our sitting President and then had the audacity to shepherd that faulty agreement to the Inter-Ministerial Concessions Committee (IMCC) for consideration, speaks volume of utter disrespect for the President. Mr. President, you need to take immediate action and demonstrate that you indeed are our President and that officials should carry out your policy directives to the letter.
ArcelorMittal should not be allowed to further hijack the potential growth of the Liberian economy by singlehandedly controlling nearly 300 kilometers of railway and the entire iron ore port of Buchanan, with large sections of the pier and berth in the port and other assets. People wonder why the Port of Buchanan has not developed one inch in over two decades. That is simply because a corporate neo-colonialists name ArcelorMittal controls virtually the entire port for its sole purpose.
Therefore, we are recommending to the President and his Ministers, that is if they are willing, to be courageous. Call ArcelorMittal's bluff, see if they don't fall in line! Do not offer them a "Third Amendment" to an already very flawed 2005 Mineral Development Agreement. We strongly urge, do not offer them a Third Amendment. Instead allow this current MDA to expire as scheduled in 2030. But in the meantime, start negotiating an entirely new MDA for another 25 years from 2030.
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Completely remove the rail and iron ore port from under their exclusive control and return it back to the Government of Liberia to allow other companies and investors shared access to those sovereign owned assets through the National Port Authority and National Rail Authority. Compensate ArcelorMittal if deemed fair and appropriate through access agreements that are granted to other investors, for whatever is justifiable for ArcelorMittal to make if they can show that they did infrastructure investments that are far in excess of their operational needs.
Take courage and do this and watch Liberia take off into Heavenly heights and develop more rapidly. If they threaten you with arbitration, go to arbitration. They are in multiple defaults of their MDA already and do not have a case.
Enough of the ArcelorMittal neo-colonial economic hijacking!
