Africa-Press – Liberia. The Government of Liberia’s decision to implement a third-party Multi-user policy over its railway and port facilities was initially met with broad consensus, promising additional revenue streams and expanded economic opportunity.
ArcelorMittal Liberia (AML), the mining company that has operated and maintained the vital Yekepa-to-Buchanan railway for nearly two decades, has in principle endorsed the government’s strategy, and said it recognizes the importance of broader national economic benefits for the country if other miners use the rail line.
However, a deepening dispute now threatens to derail progress. At the heart of the tension are two core issues: the deliberate refusal by High Power Exploration (HPX) and its subsidiary, Ivanhoe Liberia, to accept AML’s continued role as the operator of the railway and HPX’s insistence on installing an independent operator reportedly of its choosing. This demand, government sources and business analysts say, creates an unfair disadvantage for ArcelorMittal Liberia, which, under the terms of its Mineral Development Agreement (MDA) with Liberia, holds the contractual right to operate the rail.
Since taking over a devastated post-war infrastructure in 2005, AML has invested over $800 million to rehabilitate, maintain, and upgrade the Liberia’s 243-kilometer heavy-haul railway, designed to U.S. heavy haul standards for bulk commodities. These upgrades have included port facilities and capital outlays that transformed the corridor into an operable and commercially viable route.
This major infrastructure investment has included extensive modernization efforts such as bridge repairs, the full replacement of all wooden sleepers with steel ties across the entire railway length, and the acquisition of nine new GE locomotives and 500 wagons equipped with Progress Rail undercarriages.
As part of the work on the rail line scheduled for completion in 2025, the railway will be capable of handling five ore trains daily, with each train carrying up to 120 wagons. Additionally, all nine railway loops are being lengthened to accommodate the longer trains, and the entire system is being upgraded with an advanced Wabtec rail control system to enhance safety and efficiency.
Construction efforts have also included the building of new sidings and level crossings, along with significant reinforcement work using rocks to enlarge and strengthen the Buchanan yard. These upgrades are set to further solidify the railway’s role as a critical economic artery for Liberia’s mining sector all fully funded by ArcelorMittal.
HPX, by contrast, has invested nothing in Liberia’s rail infrastructure to date. Its primary interest lies in transporting Guinean ore through Liberia to Buchanan Port, despite lacking full authorization yet from the Guinean government. Guinea, meanwhile, is heavily investing more than $18 billion in building its own internal railway network to service its rich iron ore deposits. As a result, HPX’s demands to install its own operator over Liberia’s sovereign infrastructure without contributing to its restoration or directly mining within Liberia are increasingly viewed as unreasonable and economically hazardous.
Liberian government officials involved in infrastructure negotiations argue that it makes little financial or nationalistic sense to remove AML as operator. They point out that AML has not only demonstrated a commitment to non-discriminatory third-party Multi-user arrangements but has also consistently created more than 7,000 jobs for Liberians, generated substantial tax and royalty revenues, and provided critical community investments in mining-affected areas.
“It would be reckless to burden ourselves with the cost of hiring and maintaining an expensive independent rail operator just to appease a company whose only contribution is moving ore from another country,” said a senior Liberian economic official who spoke on condition of anonymity because negotiations are ongoing. “In the face of major U.S. aid reductions and tightening national budgets, we must make decisions that prioritize Liberian economic interests, not foreign corporate convenience,” and an economist who asked not to be named.
The official concern extends beyond principle. Hiring an independent operator, as proposed by HPX, would incur additional operational costs for the Government of Liberia at a time when fiscal prudence is critical. The analyst also highlights the operational challenges of APM Terminals, which, after being handed to an independent operator under a previous government arrangement, resulted in disappointing revenue collections for the state. There is fear that history may repeat itself this time with even higher stakes, given the strategic importance of the railway corridor to Liberia’s broader economic growth.
Liberia’s adoption of a third-party Multi-user policy is not a reactionary move nor a response to external pressure. It is a process that has deep roots. As far back as 2006, third party user terms and the eventual reversion of rail and port ownership to the Government of Liberia were incorporated into the First Amendment of ArcelorMittal’s MDA, ratified by the Legislature in 2007.
Contrary to assertions that AML has historically resisted competition, the company has actively cooperated with the Liberian government to facilitate third party Multi-user access. Over the years, multiple discussions were held with potential users. Notably, in 2010, AML engaged with BHP Billiton, then the controller of Société des Mines de Fer de Guinée (SMFG) now owned by HPX to explore a joint venture for mining iron ore across the Liberia-Guinea border. The talks collapsed largely because of valuation disagreements and because the Guinean government under President Alpha Condé preferred a different infrastructural vision involving Rio Tinto’s Trans-Guinean Railway.
Another attempt involved Sable Mining, a junior miner that approached AML in 2013 to request rail access. Although discussions commenced in good faith, Sable Mining was unable to produce sufficient technical specifications to support a partnership and soon faced major corporate challenges, including fallout from the Ebola crisis, falling commodity prices, and serious corruption allegations tied to Liberian officials. These events not resistance from AML ultimately derailed potential third party Multi-user access.
Subsequent efforts around 2019 to facilitate Guinean ore transportation through Liberia were limited in scope. The Governments of Liberia and Guinea agreed to a framework allowing limited transit of up to 5 million tons per annum hardly a transformative amount for Liberian infrastructure finances.
Against this backdrop, ArcelorMittal’s cooperative posture toward third party Multi-user access remains consistent and verifiable. The company has committed to fair and open access principles under government oversight, while asserting its contractual right to operate infrastructure it financed and rebuilt.
The emerging economic reality is stark: HPX’s position, if adopted, would force Liberia to assume needless operating costs for infrastructure that currently functions efficiently under AML management. It would introduce duplication of effort, logistical chaos, and likely deter future private sector investment at a time when Liberia seeks to rebuild investor confidence. Worse, it could erode a critical source of government revenue at a moment when every dollar matters.
As negotiations continue behind closed doors, observers warn that the stakes extend well beyond mining disputes. They touch the core of Liberia’s economic sovereignty and the fundamental question of whether the country will prioritize long-term national interest over short-term foreign pressures.
For now, the government faces a pivotal choice: stand by the operator that invested heavily in Liberia’s recovery and who abides by non-discriminatory third-party Multi-user principles to external demands that could cost the country dearly.
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