By Amos Harris
Just days before President Joseph Nyuma Boakai’s scheduled appearance at the African Leaders Summit in Washington, D.C., his administration is under fire for quietly signing a controversial multi-million-dollar railway deal. The agreement, inked on Sunday, July 6, 2025, behind closed doors at the National Investment Commission (NIC) on United Nations Drive, involves Ivanhoe Atlantic, a U.S.-registered company linked to Chinese mining interests.
The deal focuses on rehabilitating and expanding Liberia’s strategic railway corridor from Tapateh in Nimba County to the Port of Buchanan. This corridor is a vital export route for iron ore and has long attracted interest from major global mining players.
Observers are drawing sharp comparisons between the current situation and events in 2006, when then-Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo faced U.S. pressure to surrender former Liberian President Charles Taylor before a critical White House meeting with President George W. Bush. Obasanjo complied, leading to Taylor’s arrest and a significant geopolitical shift in the region.
Now, President Boakai is navigating similarly high-stakes waters. Sources familiar with internal discussions at the Executive Mansion indicate the deal with Ivanhoe Atlantic was accelerated to showcase Liberia’s commitment to infrastructure and foreign investment. However, its timing, just before Boakai’s first high-level meeting with U.S. President Donald Trump, has raised diplomatic red flags.
Ivanhoe Atlantic is believed to be the successor to High Power Exploration (HPX), a mining firm founded by Robert Friedland. Friedland also chairs Ivanhoe Mines, a Toronto-listed company partially owned by Chinese firms. Though Ivanhoe Atlantic is registered in Delaware, its connections to China’s state-linked enterprises have sparked concern among U.S. Africa policy experts and critics of Beijing’s growing influence across the continent.
“This is a strategic miscalculation at a time when the U.S. is closely watching Chinese infrastructure expansion across Africa,” said a Washington-based Africa analyst who spoke under condition of anonymity. “If Liberia appears to be facilitating Chinese access to Guinean resources under the guise of a U.S.-branded deal, it could severely complicate U.S.-Liberia relations.”
The deal reportedly includes provisions for constructing new railway links extending into Guinea, enabling iron ore from Guinean concessions to be transported to the Liberian coast. Such cross-border infrastructure mimics China’s broader Belt and Road strategy and amplifies fears of Chinese encroachment cloaked in Western partnerships.
Despite the scale and geopolitical implications of the railway agreement, the Boakai administration has yet to issue a formal statement. There was no public signing ceremony, no press release, and no legislative review—a move seen as a disregard for transparency and public accountability. Reporters initially invited to attend the signing on July 5 were later informed that the ceremony had been moved to the next day. However, upon arrival at the NIC headquarters on July 6, media representatives were barred from entering, citing a sudden protocol shift.
“This is a matter of national interest with implications for sovereignty, transparency, and public trust,” said one member of the Center for Democratic Accountability, a local civil society watchdog. “Why was the media excluded? Why wasn’t the legislature consulted?”
The opaque nature of the agreement has sparked outrage from civil society groups, opposition politicians, and even some lawmakers. Legal experts warn that if the Ivanhoe Atlantic deal infringes on existing concession rights, such as those held by ArcelorMittal (which currently operates the Tokadeh-Buchanan corridor), it could trigger legal challenges and investor uncertainty.
Further complicating matters, the U.S. Embassy in Monrovia issued a brief statement acknowledging the deal and praising Liberia’s investment initiative but offered no further details. Behind the scenes, diplomatic insiders suggest that U.S. officials are wary of the deal’s implications and are likely to raise the matter during Boakai’s visit.
President Boakai departed Liberia on Monday, July 8, accompanied by senior officials including Foreign Minister Sara Beysolow Nyanti, Finance Minister Augustine Kpehe Ngafuan, and former Minister of Labor Samuel Kofi Woods. The Liberian delegation will participate in the U.S.-Africa Leaders Summit scheduled from July 9 to 11 and is also expected to engage with business leaders and the Liberian diaspora in the U.S.
The railway deal’s estimated value is pegged at US$1.4 billion, making it one of the largest single infrastructure investments in recent Liberian history. Administration sources say Boakai hopes to use the deal as evidence of Liberia’s readiness to absorb large-scale foreign investment. But critics argue that the President has gambled with national credibility at a moment when global powers are sharpening their scrutiny of African alliances.
“This isn’t just about iron ore,” said another policy expert in Washington. “This is about geopolitics. Liberia is positioning itself between the West and China at a very sensitive time.”
In an election year for the U.S., with President Donald Trump eyeing a return to the White House and current policy circles focused on containing Chinese influence, the optics of the Ivanhoe Atlantic deal may prove problematic, even if well-intentioned.
As the dust settles on the secretive signing, the Boakai administration faces mounting pressure to explain its rationale, release the terms of the agreement, and reassure both Liberians and international partners about the nation’s sovereignty and transparency. Some speculate the deal may be modified or even abandoned depending on reactions in Washington. Others believe Boakai will double down, using the summit to make a case for Liberia as a rising investment hub in West Africa.
Regardless of the outcome, Liberia once again finds itself at the center of a global chessboard, its mineral wealth, geographic advantage, and leadership choices drawing attention from the world’s most powerful actors. Whether this gamble solidifies President Boakai’s legacy or backfires diplomatically will be determined not just in Monrovia, but also in the halls of power in Washington.
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