MONROVIA, LIBERIA – For the second time in less than a day, Nimba County Senator Nya Twayen has launched a fierce critique of steel giant ArcelorMittal Liberia (AML), accusing the company of exploiting Liberia through questionable financial practices and failing to meet its obligations to the people of Nimba. In a strongly worded Facebook post on June 6, 2025, the senator condemned AML for never declaring a profit over its more than two decades of operations in Liberia, despite its massive iron ore exports and recent billion-dollar expansion.
According to Senator Twayen, AML’s persistent failure to declare profits is not a matter of poor business performance but rather a calculated use of transfer pricing, a method commonly employed by multinational corporations to shift profits out of the host country and into tax havens. “Transfer pricing is a technique used by multinationals to shift profits… It involves a multinational selling itself goods and services at an artificially high price,” the senator explained. In his candid and colloquial tone, he added, “Yor lea dey people they trying,” implying that AML has skillfully exploited legal and regulatory loopholes in Liberia.
By not declaring profits, Senator Twayen argues, AML has avoided paying dividends to the Liberian government and the people of Nimba, in clear violation of what he suggests is both the letter and spirit of the mineral development agreement. “You failed at the current agreement and asking for new one? No,” he declared.
Twayen’s criticism is not new. Just a day earlier, on June 5, as President Joseph Boakai was inaugurating AML’s new US$1.4 billion ore concentrator plant in Tokadeh, the senator had issued another post warning that if the Nimba Legislative Caucus’s conditions are not met, they will resist any renewal of AML’s mineral development agreement. “You can dedicate another $1bn plant, if the conditions laid down by the Nimba Caucus are not met, we will resist renewal,” he said. He went further to criticize the state of Yekepa, where AML operates, calling it “filthy” and condemning the “muddy road leading to and around the so-called billion dollar installation.”
Despite the senator’s pointed criticism, President Boakai used the occasion to commend ArcelorMittal’s long-term investment and express personal sentiment about his connection to the region. “I came to you because I worked here,” Boakai said, adding, “The fact that someone can demonstrate confidence five years to 25 years for such an investment, we want to thank you.”
The US$1.7 billion Phase 2 Expansion project by AML includes the new concentrator expected to process 25 million tons of raw ore annually, yielding 15 million tons of concentrated iron ore. When completed, the facility will be the second-largest in Africa, a development AML says will enhance Liberia’s position in the global steel industry.
Executive Chairman Lakshmi Mittal, who was present at the inauguration, praised the government’s support and highlighted the project’s potential to create thousands of jobs and stimulate long-term economic growth. He said the expansion also includes major upgrades to the Buchanan-Yekepa railway and port infrastructure to improve transportation and logistics.
Still, Senator Twayen remains unswayed by the grandeur of the ceremony and scale of the investment. His demand is clear: ArcelorMittal must either yield to the demands of the people and ensure transparency and equitable development, or prepare to leave. As the debate intensifies, it is evident that Liberia’s resource politics under the Boakai administration will be closely scrutinized by lawmakers and communities demanding more from foreign investors.
