WASHINGTON – During last week’s White House Africa Summit, Liberian President Joseph Boakai made a passionate request to US President Donald Trump for the United States of America to help Liberia conduct a survey of the country’s minerals and natural resources. The request came just six months after President Boakai, while addressing Liberia’s 55th Legislature in January, said the country had received a mineral resource survey report from the Chinese government. The Chinese survey uncovered a wide range of mineral resources, and the Ministry of Mines and Energy has since analyzed.
By Rodney D. Sieh, [email protected]
In an exclusive interview with FrontPageAfrica, following his meeting with President Trump at the White House, President Boakai, when pressed as to why he had made the request when China had already done one, explained that the Chinese survey did not cover the entire country.
Said the President: “China did two counties, Lofa and Maryland – and they said that we have forty-seven minerals, very strategic. We want to know, the minerals we have in the entire country. It will give us a better opportunity to plan for the use of our mineral and the management of it. In fact, I am feeling that it is about time that we know that so that we plan which ones are more strategic – and that we can manage them for the benefit of Liberians. The US has the skills, and we believe they too, because instead of just sitting and complaining, we want for them to be a part of it. We don’t have the technology they have. So, it will be helpful for all of them to share this knowledge and we can use it to our advantage.”
USGS 60’s era Survey Data old, Experts Say
The search for minerals has been a long-running issue for Liberia’s quest for natural resources discovery. In fact, in the 1960s, the US Geological Survey (USGS), in collaboration with the Liberian Geological Survey, conducted extensive geological and geophysical mapping of Liberia. However, many geological experts and analysts now say, those data are old.
The USGS survey, spanned from 1965 to 1972 and resulted in the publication of ten quadrangle folios, each covering a specific area of Liberia. These maps, based on field data, interpretations of gravity and magnetic surveys, and other geophysical data, are valuable resources for understanding Liberia’s geological structure and resources.
In 2013, a similar project focusing on the two counties, Lofa and Maryland mentioned by President Boakai, was implemented by the Wuhan Center, China Geological Survey (Wuhan CGS), Institute of Geophysical and Geochemical Exploration of Chinese Academy of Geological Sciences (IGGE), and China Academy of Aerospace Aerodynamics (CAAA). The survey project began in 2013 when the agreement was officially sealed between both governments.
The Chinese survey was seen as an opportunity for growth and a significant step to boost Liberia’s mineral sector.
Liberia’s mineral industry, in particular iron ore, has long played a crucial role in the nation’s economic development. From the early 1960s until the civil crisis of the 1990s, the iron ore mining sector contributed more than 20 per cent of the gross national product and employed more than 50,000 people, or approximately 15 per cent of the country’s total workforce.
The artisanal mining of alluvial gold and diamonds has also made a modest contribution to the national economy over a long period.
Several Mining Firms in Liberia
Today, several international companies are operating in Liberia’s mining space, with a focus on iron ore, gold, and diamonds. Major players include ArcelorMittal (iron ore) and Avesoro Resources (gold). Additionally, there are numerous artisanal and small-scale mining operations throughout the country.
Major Mining Companies in Liberia: ArcelorMittal: A global leader in iron ore production, ArcelorMittal has significant operations in Liberia, particularly in the Nimba region; Avesoro Resources (formerly Aureus Mining): Avesoro Resources, through its subsidiary Bea Mountain Mining Corporation, operates the New Liberty Gold Mine, Liberia’s first and largest commercial gold mine; Hummingbird Resources: Hummingbird Resources is involved in gold exploration and feasibility assessments in Liberia; China Union has invested in the Bong Mines, focusing on iron ore extraction; MNG Gold Liberia (also known as MNG Gold): MNG Gold is involved in gold exploration and mining activities and Western Cluster Limited is involved in iron ore mining.
For the Trump adminstration to gain serious interest in Liberia, an updated geological survey would be key.
This was evident in June when President Trump oversaw a signed peace deal between Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of the Congo to end fighting in eastern DRC. The more pressing reality was that the Trump administration has its sights set on securing lucrative mineral rights in the two countries.
The deal also laid the framework for a future summit in Washington bringing together Trump, the Rwandan president, Paul Kagame, and the DRC president, Félix Tshisekedi, with an eye on the economic component, with the Trump administration eager to profit from abundant mineral wealth in eastern DRC. That agreement aims to attract western investment to the two countries’ mining sectors, which contain deposits of tantalum, gold, cobalt, copper and lithium, while giving the US access to critical minerals.
This is why many geological analysts say, an updated geological survey of the entire country is key. However recent changes in Washington and the Trump administration’s policy shift toward the continent, emphasizing aid over trade suggests that President Boakai’s request is unlikely to see light at the end of the tunnel without intense lobbying efforts in Washington.
Shifting US Policy Complicates Survey Plea
The Trump administration has already slashed the U.S. Agency for International Development and slashed funding for programs that help Africans. However, in meeting with the leaders of the five African countries last week, the US President appeared to leave a window of opportunity open. “We’re shifting from aid to trade,” he said at the start of a White House meeting. “There’s great economic potential in Africa, like few other places. In many ways, in the long run, this will be far more effective and sustainable and beneficial than anything else that we can be doing together.”
Diplomatic observers say, African nations warming up to Trump may have to do more to get his attention and a lot more transactional business to offer as Rwanda and Congo proved in recent days.
President Brice Clotaire Oligui Nguema of Gabon was clear in his meeting with President Trump, that the continent is up to the task but needed some push. “We are not poor countries. We are rich countries when it comes to raw materials. But we need partners to support us and help us develop those resources,” he said. “You are welcome to come and invest. Otherwise, other countries might come instead of you.”
The White House summit marked a strong effort by not just the Trump administration but those of his predecessors as well, aiming to counter perceptions of U.S. neglect of a continent where China has increasingly made economic inroads.
The US too has its work cut out, especially with the massive inroads being made by China. China, from previous experiences, appear more willing to bear the risk profile of doing business on the continent, than the Americans are, in recent years.
This is why President Trump, in one of his first moves after inauguration, put a pause on the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, hoping to meet the Chinese engagement methods on level terms.
For the Trump administration, it comes with the risk of seeing the US turn a blind eye to once-core U.S. values like human rights and democracy.
Good Governance vs. Transactional Business
Where the Trump administration could run into problem may be on the controversy surrounding the issue of pressuring some African countries to accept deportees from the US, a move that could, diplomatic observers say, put the US in a complicated dilemma with its commercial ambitions for the continent.
Even more complicated, the Trump administration’s recent decision to crackdown on illegal immigration, including a recent executive order targeting ten African countries, more than any other region, with a full or partial travel ban, ruffled a few feathers on the continent.
The bottom line for many is that the US position set out by US Secretary of State Marco Rubio in early July, when he stated that the US was abandoning what he called a charity-based foreign aid model in preference to working with nations that demonstrate ‘both the ability and willingness to help themselves’, could prove pivotal in how President Trump respond to President Boakai’s request for a survey of Liberia’s minerals and natural resources.
Key will be how the Trump administration views Liberia in the realm of its shifting transactional approach to foreign policy, especially when it comes to Africa. With less focus on good governance, human rights and institution building, the Trump administration’s focus on a business model could be the deciding factor in whether or not his administration responds favorable to Liberia’s urgent request for minerals survey.
