ArcelorMittal Liberia (AML) is under legislative scrutiny after staging what now appears to be a misleading inauguration of an uncompleted concentration plant, with a questionable cost of US$1.4 billion.
The company, considered Liberia’s largest steel investor, invited President Joseph Nyuma Boakai and other high-profile government officials on June 9, 2025, to officiate the launch of what was described as a major milestone in the country’s mining sector.
However, to the shock of lawmakers and the public, AML later admitted during a legislative hearing that the plant was not yet completed, directly contradicting the impression given during the ceremony.
The revelation emerged during a Senate Committee hearing on Concessions, where AML executives acknowledged that the plant was still under construction. Senators expressed outrage, describing the inauguration as a “ceremonial façade” intended to create a false narrative of progress and investment.
Traditionally, the inauguration of a concentration plant refers to the official launch of a facility designed to process raw ore into more refined, high-value mineral concentrates. Such events typically mark the beginning of operations, not symbolic pageantry. Yet, AML’s event was clearly a premature celebration of an unfinished facility.
The project, part of the nearly $2 billion expansion plan, is meant to process lower-grade hematite ore into higher-grade magnetite concentrate. While this is expected to enhance Liberia’s iron ore output and global market standing, the lack of transparency around the project’s status and cost has cast serious doubts on the company’s integrity.
Adding to the controversy, key government ministries denied involvement or awareness of the plant’s construction. Minister of Mines and Energy, Wilson Paye, and Minister of Public Works, Roland Giddings, both testified before the Senate that they were neither consulted nor involved in any phase of the project—before, during, or after its supposed completion.
Even more alarming, officials from the Ministry of Finance failed to confirm whether they had any knowledge of the actual cost of the plant. When questioned, the Ministry declined to answer, leaving lawmakers—and by extension, the Liberian people—in a state of confusion and mistrust.
“Stop policing concessions,” Senator Simeon T. Taylor of Grand Cape Mount County asserted in frustration, further decrying the deplorable road conditions and rising unemployment, which many believe should take precedence over public deception and investor grandstanding.
As the Senate Investigates, this incident has only deepened public skepticism surrounding AML’s operations in Liberia and raised critical questions about concession oversight, government involvement, and the true state of the country’s infrastructure development.
