Africa-Press – Liberia. Concern is said to be mounting in Nimba over the revenue collected from the export of huge quantities of red oil that leave the country through the Luoguatuo Port of Entry in Nimba County to the Côte d’Ivoire.
According to those living around Loguatuo, every Friday, huge quantities of red oil leave Liberia for its northeastern neighbor, but it is not clear whether the carriers of these local commodities pay the required export duty to the Liberia Revenue Authority.
On Friday, January 19, 2024, the Daily Observer visited the oil market at Loguatuo Port of Entry to ascertain the red oil trade and the quantities leaving the country weekly.
It was established from vendors at the market that huge quantities of red oil in the market are exported to Ivory Coast, where huge profits are earned from the sale.
“We bought this oil from Bassa and other parts of Liberia and brought it to this border for sale,” said Alice Gbahn, a red oil seller.
The market was heavily crowded with hundreds of drums filled with red oil, but these drums were all loaded on board trucks and taken to Ivory Coast, which is just a stone’s throw away from the market.
When this reporter asked the customs authority about the movement of the red oil, a customs deputy collector, only identified as Mohammed, responded by asking this reporter whether there was any ban on the movement of red oil.
However, the customs officer could not tell this reporter whether the export duty was paid by the traders, regardless of whether the commodity was banned.
“The red oil trade at this port is managed by the joint security, so anything paid as duty is collected by a designated person and, at the end of the day, whatsoever received is divided among the security apparatus assigned here,” said an agent of the Ministry of Commerce at the border, who begged not to be named.
An officer of the Liberia Immigration Service told this reporter that Ivorian authorities always allowed food items into Liberia but could not say whether carrying oil was a reciprocation.
The Loguatuo Port of Entry is one of the leading rural ports in Liberia, and trading activities at the port have further increased due to the ongoing pavement of the road from Sanniquellie to Loguatuo.
However, the movement of red oil across the border is said to have caused an increase in the prices of commodities domestically.
“Red oil is leaving the country in huge quantities both to Guinea and the Ivory Coast, and if nothing is done, we will have a shortage of oil on our market soon,” a petty trader in Karnplay told this paper.
“Even the Ivory Coast has banned local food items from leaving their country in recent times to avoid a shortage of food in their markets. We don’t know whether it was due to the influx of people for the African Cup,” she added.
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