The House of Representatives on Thursday, December 11, 2025, spent a marathon session ratifying three major investment agreements expected to shape the future of Liberia's extractive and infrastructure sectors -- chief among them the US$1.8 billion Concession and Rail Access Agreement between the Government of Liberia and Ivanhoe Atlantic, alongside separate offshore exploration contracts with TotalEnergies and Oranto Petroleum.
Ivanhoe Atlantic Agreement Secures Passage
The Ivanhoe Atlantic deal -- one of the most consequential infrastructure agreements in recent years -- was passed by a vote of 38 in favor and 2 against, comfortably satisfying quorum under House rules. The agreement grants Ivanhoe Atlantic (formerly HPX) and its subsidiaries the right to transport iron ore from Guinea's Nimba region through Liberia's Yekepa-Buchanan railway and port for a 25-year term.
The Concession and Access Agreement (CAA) will unlock an estimated US$1.8 billion in total investments, with US$64 million committed in Phase I and US$888 million in Phase II toward infrastructure expansion. It is projected to generate over US$1 billion in rail access fees and US$110 million in direct community development contributions for Nimba, Bong, and Grand Bassa counties. Ivanhoe is also obligated to prioritize Liberian citizens in employment and procurement, while maintaining environmental and social standards under a completed Environmental and Social Impact Assessment (ESIA).
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Following Thursday's vote, the House formally transmitted the agreement to the Senate for concurrence.
A Decade in the Making
The Ivanhoe Agreement is the culmination of nearly a decade of complex negotiations between Liberia and Guinea. It fulfills the framework established under the 2019 Bilateral Implementation Agreement (BIA) ratified by both nations in 2020 and 2021. Under the CAA, Ivanhoe will pay US$35 million in concession and milestone payments upon ratification, in addition to US$37 million already paid to the previous administration for rail access rights.
The agreement marks the first major implementation of Liberia's new multi-user rail policy, a key pillar of President Joseph Nyuma Boakai's ARREST Agenda. It decouples mining from infrastructure ownership and allows other qualified operators to access Liberia's rail corridor through an independent operator model -- a move widely seen as breaking the 20-year monopoly of ArcelorMittal Liberia (AML).
Once operational, Ivanhoe's Kon Kweni Iron Ore Project in Guinea -- holding an estimated 751.9 million tonnes of Direct Ship Ore (DSO), including 209 million tonnes of ore averaging 67.8% Fe -- will ship its ore through Buchanan beginning in 2027, after construction starts in early 2026.
Strategic and Geopolitical Implications
Observers describe the deal as a strategic win for Liberia and its Western allies. The United States Embassy in Monrovia has hailed the Ivanhoe Atlantic Agreement as "a crucial step toward developing Liberia's multi-user rail policy and attracting new international investment."
Former U.S. Special Envoy to Africa's Great Lakes Region Ambassador J. Peter Pham, now non-executive chair of Ivanhoe Atlantic, has previously underscored that the Yekepa-Buchanan rail corridor is of strategic interest to the United States, framing the investment within Washington's broader push to secure critical mineral supply chains and reduce dependence on Chinese-controlled iron ore.
Bility: "A Strategic Win for Liberia"
Among the lawmakers who voted in favor of the Ivanhoe Agreement was Representative Musa Hassan Bility of Nimba County District #7, who described the deal as transformative.
"I voted in favor of the HPX deal because it is, in my view, in the strategic interest of Liberia," Bility said in a post-vote statement. "This agreement is not simply about extracting our minerals; it is also about using our land and rail corridor to create a competitive logistics hub. It enhances our ability to move goods and services within Liberia, opens access to our inland port, and gives us a real opportunity to serve landlocked neighbors such as Mali and others who can use Liberia as a transit route. This is the kind of infrastructure-based advantage that can help position our country as a regional gateway and directly translate into private sector and economic growth opportunities."
Bility, however, criticized the House's procedural bundling of the TotalEnergies and Oranto Petroleum offshore oil deals under a single vote. "It was brought as an Omnibus Bill, bundled as part of a single vote with the Oranto Deal, which constrained me to vote against the combined instrument," he said. He further described Oranto's business model as one that "simply acquires our assets and flips them for profit," asserting that "if this type of deal was ever to be accepted, it should have been an opportunity reserved for Liberians."
Former Minister Paye Welcomes House Vote, Warns of AML Risks
Former Minister of Mines and Energy Wilmot Paye hailed the House's ratification of the Ivanhoe Atlantic Agreement as "uplifting."
"I thank the House of Representatives for standing with Liberia by voting for ratification of the Ivanhoe Atlantic Concession and Access Agreement," Paye wrote on Thursday. "This decision will ultimately unlock the potential along the Yekepa-Buchanan Rail Corridor and set a firm policy foundation for optimizing the full benefit of Liberia's present and future rail infrastructure."
Paye recalled that the iron ore potential along the Yekepa-Buchanan corridor is "massive -- 17 billion tons," noting that the vote aligns with earlier efforts by the Inter-Ministerial Concession Committee (IMCC) to ensure ArcelorMittal retains operatorship until September 23, 2030, by which time an independent operator will have been competitively recruited under the Public Procurement and Concession Act.
However, Paye cautioned that ArcelorMittal's current practices could undermine national interests:
"I predict that if the Senate concurs with the House on the CAA, ArcelorMittal will swiftly scale up its operations... Once the mine life is shortened, Liberia loses because ArcelorMittal will not be able to achieve all of the milestones set in its Mineral Development Agreement. In fact, this is probably why the company has resorted to crushing ore rather than using the concentrator it deceived Liberians into believing was ready."
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He further warned that the concentrator plant commissioned earlier this year remains incomplete, urging transparency: "If the concentrator is now in operation, what is the production capacity? We need to know."
Next Steps: Senate Concurrence and Oversight
With the House's approval secured, the Ivanhoe Atlantic Agreement now moves to the Senate for concurrence. The Senate Joint Committee on Transport, Lands, Mines, Energy, Concessions, Judiciary, and Finance is expected to review and deliberate on the agreement next week and the full Senate will take on the CAA transmittal from the lower House.
If passed, the deal will position Liberia as a regional logistics hub linking Guinea and the Atlantic, potentially ushering in a new era of transparent, multi-user rail governance. As former Minister Paye put it, "The House has thrown the challenge to the Senate, which must do the needful by standing tall for Liberia."
Thursday's votes -- spanning mining, hydrocarbons, and infrastructure -- signal a renewed legislative appetite for growth, with lawmakers weighing not just revenue streams but the long-term sovereignty and competitiveness of Liberia's natural resources.
