NIMBA COUNTY, LIBERIA – Tension flared in the towns surrounding ArcelorMittal’s operational areas in Nimba County on Thursday, June 5, 2025, morning as President Joseph Boakai prepared to inaugurate the company’s long-awaited US$1.4 billion concentrator facility at Mount Tokadeh. Angry citizens lined the roads, chanting “AML Must Go,” voicing outrage over what they say is nearly two decades of exploitation, unfulfilled promises, and visible underdevelopment in the host communities.
The protest unfolded just hours before President Boakai’s scheduled appearance, reflecting a mounting wave of public resentment against ArcelorMittal Liberia (AML), the country’s largest mining concessionaire. Despite generating hundreds of millions in revenue, citizens say the company’s impact on their daily lives remains negligible. Placards waved by the protesters decried poor working conditions, unequal pay, broken infrastructure, and a lack of community development across Nimba, Bong, and Grand Bassa Counties where ArcelorMittal operates.
By all appearances, ArcelorMittal should be a flagship example of successful post-war foreign investment. Between 2021 and 2022, it exported 6.4 million metric tons of iron ore, generating an estimated US$477.2 million in revenue, according to the 15th Report of the Liberia Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (LEITI). “Yet communities hosting the multinational’s operations tell a very different story, one of neglect and hardship.”
Since beginning operations in 2005, ArcelorMittal’s presence in Liberia has been shaped by a Mineral Development Agreement (MDA) initially lauded as a symbol of post-conflict rebirth. The agreement has since been amended, most notably in 2011, to expand the company’s reach across more than 500,000 hectares, as well as to include infrastructure rehabilitation like the Yekepa-Buchanan railway and port.
But for many Liberian workers and nearby residents, AML has become synonymous with disparity. Liberians employed by the company often cite unequal pay compared to expatriate staff for identical work, while labor unions have consistently called for salary harmonization and improved safety conditions. Over the years, reports of industrial accidents, some fatal, have surfaced, drawing attention to systemic lapses.
In Buchanan, Grand Bassa County, home to the port from which the ore is exported, communities live in stark contrast to the wealth being extracted from their soil. Young people remain unemployed, basic amenities like clean water and electricity are erratic, and roads and schools have fallen into disrepair.
While ArcelorMittal’s iron ore exports make up a sizable portion, 40 percent of Liberia’s mineral export value, per LEITI’s data, critics argue that the revenues fail to trickle down effectively. The government’s share, derived from taxes, royalties, and social development contributions, is frequently lost in a murky cycle of mismanagement and weak oversight.
Transparency advocate Anderson Miamen, Executive Director of CENTAL, recently challenged the company’s overemphasis on public relations rather than tangible development.
“Which mining company you know does more Public Relations than Mittal Steel?” Miamen questioned in a widely shared Facebook post. “Most times, people don’t need this kind/level of publicity to showcase their impacts.”
His remarks reflect a growing disillusionment with Liberia’s concession model, one in which foreign firms extract natural wealth while host communities remain impoverished. Even with plans like the concentrator, designed to process ore domestically, critics remain skeptical about whether the investment will yield lasting benefits for ordinary Liberians.
As President Boakai steps into the heart of this unrest today, he does so under immense pressure, not only to celebrate a milestone project but also to reckon with the demands of an increasingly vocal and frustrated population. The opening of the concentrator may mark a technological advancement for ArcelorMittal, but for many Liberians, the real measure of success will be seen not in tonnage exported, but in lives improved.
Until Liberia tightens its regulatory institutions, mandates equitable labor practices, and demands transparency in how community funds are used, even billion-dollar investments may continue to deepen, rather than close, the country’s development gap.
