FOYA, Lofa County -- President Joseph Nyuma Boakai broke ground over the weekend on an 86-kilometer road project linking Voinjama to Mendikorma at the Sierra Leone border, a $45 million initiative that officials said would cut travel time on the corridor nearly in half and unlock what they described as Liberia's most productive agricultural county from decades of road-induced isolation.
The ceremony, held in Foya district with traditional chiefs, lawmakers, cabinet ministers, and ambassadors from Sierra Leone and Guinea in attendance, formalized the launch of a 25-year public-private partnership between the Government of Liberia and Pavi Fort, the construction company awarded the concession. The concession agreement was signed Jan. 5, 2026.
Deputy Minister of Public Works Prince D. Tamba, who delivered the project overview, said the road would be built to modern asphalt pavement standard with a carriageway width of 10.3 meters in rural sections, including 1.5-meter shoulders on both sides. Through town centers, the road would be widened to 20.6 meters, with 2.5-meter parking lanes to ease traffic flow and support urbanization. The project also includes the rehabilitation of five major bridges, with spans ranging from 13 to 42 meters, and the installation of more than 10,000 road drainage structures in town sections.
Voinjama City, the county seat, will be upgraded to a Class A urban road standard, with street lighting, a central median, and roadside drainage infrastructure, Tamba said.
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"Upon completion of this project, the travel time between Voinjama and Mendikorma will be reduced from approximately two and a half hours to one hour and 15 minutes," Tamba told the gathering. "Beyond improving travel efficiency, the project will significantly enhance road safety, driving comfort and vehicle reliability while reducing accidents and vehicle breakdowns."
Construction will proceed in phases beginning with Wednesday's groundbreaking, with full completion targeted for 2029. The road originates in Voinjama City, passes through Kolahun and Foya, and terminates at Mendikorma, where it connects with Sierra Leone. Tamba said the addition of 86 kilometers of paved road would raise Lofa County's share of paved road infrastructure from roughly 4 percent to approximately 8.8 percent, a figure he called a significant advance for a county whose road network ranks second in total length in Liberia after Nimba County but is 80 percent unpaved.
The CEO of Pavi Fort, Mr. Alimony Sanu Barie, stated that the company had previously completed a 26-mile road contracted by the Liberian government and called the new project a significant milestone for both the company and regional growth. He emphasized that the project involves not only technical execution but also environmental responsibility, and expressed that the company appreciates the government's trust.
A comprehensive resettlement action plan will be implemented where applicable to ensure fair compensation and livelihood restoration for those displaced by construction activities, according to project documents cited during the ceremony.
Public Works Minister Roland Lafayette Giddings, who highlighted the Mano River Union aspect of the project, described the road as what he calls infrastructure diplomacy in its most straightforward form. He explained that goods and people produced and raised on Lofa County's farms and communities have been unable to reach markets in Monrovia and other cities for too long due to the poor condition of the county's roads. He also mentioned that the road bridges a gap connecting Lofa County to Bong County and ultimately to the capital.
"Lofa County has long been recognized as the breadbasket of Liberia," Giddings said. "The fertile soil of this great country produces a wealth of agriculture and capital. For too long, the distance between what is grown here and what arrives at our markets has constrained this county's potential. That changes with this road."
The Sierra Leone ambassador to Liberia, speaking on behalf of his government, called the project another significant milestone in the bilateral relationship between the two countries and said it would facilitate the movement of goods and people across the Mano River border. He noted that Sierra Leone President Julius Maada Bio had previously outlined the role of road infrastructure in advancing regional integration.
The ambassador from Cameroon, speaking as Doyen of the diplomatic corps, said the road was the kind of investment that benefits all citizens regardless of political affiliation.
"The only thing that a leader can give to his population that we don't check the party membership card before we use -- everybody has access to the road," the Cameroonian ambassador said. "And the road brings the hospitals. But above all, the road is a market."
Lofa County Superintendent Lavelah Massaquoi welcomed President Boakai in remarks that drew prolonged applause, noting that road construction activity across the county had already intensified under the current administration. Traditional paramount chiefs, women's groups, and youth representatives presented the president and First Lady with traditional attire in a ceremony that preceded the formal speeches.
In his remarks, the chairman of the Lofa County Legislative Caucus said the project repaid a debt owed to a county that had sustained Liberia's agriculture and national identity across generations. He said the road represented not only economic relief for farmers and traders but a form of structural peace, arguing that connected communities are more stable communities.
Lofa County Senator Joseph K. Jallah told the crowd he had campaigned on road construction and that seeing the groundbreaking felt to him like the fulfillment of a promise that had consumed decades of political effort. He recalled that during campaigns, he had made road construction his first, second, and third priorities, and that the sight of the machinery moving along the corridor would be a milestone he would personally carry.
President Boakai in his keynote address, drew on personal history with the Lofa corridor to underscore what he said was the transformative significance of the moment. He described the route as a growth triangle whose opening would redefine the economic geography of northwestern Liberia.
"Can you imagine what it means that you can drive from the river straight to Freetown?" Boakai told the crowd. "During the campaign, I used this road. I passed through Sierra Leone. Today we are blessed to be here with all of you to open up the country for the use of our people."
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"Before you come back, you are sick. Because there are no roads," he said. "So we thank God that we have a road that will make a lot of things possible."
He recalled his father walking for seven days through the bush to deliver goods to the commissioner in Kolahun, carrying palm wine with no road and no map, only to arrive and drop the bottle. The story drew an emotional response from the audience and served as the president's closing argument for why the project was not merely an infrastructure investment but a correction of a generational injustice.
"This area here, Lofa, is a growth triangle," Boakai said. "Only the future will tell. Right after here, between this country and the border, there is a corridor where three countries meet. These people are families. They are the same people, the same tribe, the same families. And we are happy to be here for the groundbreaking of a road that is going to unite them more, that is going to develop a new world, that is going to bring families together."
The United Bank of Africa was acknowledged from the podium as a financial partner in the project. Ministry of Public Works staff received a standing ovation from the audience at the minister's request.
Officials also noted at the ceremony that the government plans to have Liberia connected by paved road from Monrovia to Maryland County in the southeast by 2026, a project underway separately from the Lofa corridor.
The road will also extend from a bridge near the Sierra Leone border at Mendikorma to a point connecting Mandina.
