Senate’s Ivanhoe Deal Passage Sparking Outrage

-Glaring Risks in Joint Committee Report Ignored?

MONROVIA – Experts are say a closer look at the Senate’s passage of the Ivanhoe Atlantic Concession and Access Agreement (CAA) reveals a troubling disregard for critical recommendations from the Joint Committee on Transport, Concessions, and Related Committees. Despite unanimous concerns raised by the committee, the Senate approved the deal, sparking fears of a raw deal for Liberia. The committee’s report, obtained by our sources, highlights glaring gaps in the agreement, including lack of formal engagement with Guinea, low access fees, and sovereignty risks. The report’s recommendations, aimed at protecting Liberia’s interests, were ignored. THE ANALYST reports.

The Liberian Senate has passed the Ivanhoe Atlantic Concession and Access Agreement (CAA), despite a joint committee report highlighting serious concerns and recommending amendments to safeguard Liberia’s interests.

The report, submitted by the Senate Joint Committee on Transport, Concessions, and Related Committees, revealed that the government failed to engage formally with Guinea since 2021, raising sovereignty and diplomatic risks.

The committee also questioned the low access fees (ranging from US$1.95 to US$1.55 per ton) and expressed concerns about infrastructure development, including a proposed laterite road and unclear rail connection timelines.

The committee recommended several amendments, including paving the 25-mile heavy-haul road, increasing access fees, and ensuring Guinean approval within five years. However, these recommendations were not incorporated into the passed agreement.

“We urge the public to demand transparency and accountability from their elected officials,” says a statement from concerned citizens. “The people of Liberia deserve a fair deal that prioritizes national interests.”

The committee’s report underscores the importance of protecting Liberia’s sovereignty, honoring international obligations, and ensuring that national interests remain paramount.

Weeks ago, pursuant to the authority vested in the Honorable Liberian Senate under the Constitution of the Republic of Liberia and the Rules and Procedures of the Liberian Senate, the Joint Committee comprising the Committees on Transport, Concessions, Judiciary, Ways, Means, Finance and Budget, and other relevant standing committees was constituted to review the proposed Concession and Access Agreement (CAA) between the Government of the Republic of Liberia and Ivanhoe Atlantic.

Joint Committee Mandate

The mandate of the Joint Committee was to examine the legal, economic, technical, fiscal, environmental, and governance implications of the proposed CAA; determine whether the Executive Branch complied with all applicable domestic laws and international treaty obligations, particularly the Implementation Agreement (IA) between the Republic of Liberia and the Republic of Guinea; assess the national interest implications of the agreement, including sovereignty, infrastructure governance, fiscal returns, community benefits, and risk exposure; and make recommendations to the Plenary of the Honorable Liberian Senate for consideration and action.

In fulfillment of its mandate, the Joint Committee held one major public hearing on Thursday, December 12, 2025, at the Capitol Building; requested documentary evidence and clarifications from relevant officials of the Executive Branch, including but not limited to the Ministry of Transport, the Ministry of Finance and Development Planning, the Ministry of Justice, the Ministry of Mines and Energy, and the National Investment Commission (NIC).

The Committee also reviewed the Concession and Access Agreement (CAA), the Liberia–Guinea Implementation Agreement (IA), the Mineral Development Agreement (MDA) between Guinea and Ivanhoe, the ArcelorMittal Liberia (AML) MDA, and other related instruments, and also considered prior legislative reports, including reports of the Honorable House of Representatives and the Senate Judiciary Committee on similar concession agreements, for comparative and contextual purposes.

Non-Responsiveness, Documentary Deficiencies

According to the report, the Joint Committee formally requested a number of critical documents from the Executive Branch to enable a thorough and informed review of the CAA. As of the date of the public hearing on December 12, 2025, no comprehensive or official response was received addressing the Committee’s requests.

The Minister of Transport did submit certain documents; however, the Joint Committee found a number of deficiencies, including that the documents provided were largely historical in nature, with most originating from the period prior to September 2021; the submissions did not address the core questions posed by the Committee regarding compliance with the Implementation Agreement; the documents failed to establish any recent or formal engagement between the Government of Liberia and the Government of Guinea following Guinea’s political transition in September 2021.

The report said the Minister of Transport orally asserted that he had recently spoken with his Guinean counterpart. While the Committee does not question the sincerity of this assertion, it must be stated clearly that the Committee requested documentary evidence to support such claims. No such evidence was provided.

Similarly, the Executive Director of the National Investment Commission indicated that attempts were made to contact the Guinean authorities, but that such efforts were unsuccessful. The Committee notes this admission with concern.

All documentary evidence reviewed by the Joint Committee indicates that the last formal communication between the Governments of Liberia and Guinea occurred in or about August 2021. There is no evidence before the Committee demonstrating any meaningful, formal, or documented engagement with the Government of Guinea since that time.

Compliance Liberia–Guinea Agreement

A central focus of the Joint Committee’s review was to determine whether the Government of Liberia honored its treaty obligations under the Implementation Agreement between Liberia and Guinea. The Committee examined Article 9 of the Implementation Agreement, which provides for the establishment of critical joint institutions intended to govern access to transport infrastructure

Article 9.1 mandates the establishment of an Inter-Ministerial Committee comprising nine (9) ministers from each country. This Committee is intended to provide high-level political oversight and decision-making authority over matters arising under the IA.

The Joint Committee uncovered that there was no evidence that such an Inter-Ministerial Committee was formally constituted; no minutes, resolutions, correspondence, or decisions demonstrating that the Committee ever met; no evidence that the Committee reviewed, approved, or even considered the CAA.

Article 9.2 provides for the establishment of a Monitoring Committee tasked with reviewing applications for access, ensuring compliance, and issuing technical opinions.

The Joint Committee said it found no evidence that the Monitoring Committee was operational; no documentation showing that the Committee reviewed Ivanhoe’s access request; no written opinion or recommendation from the Monitoring Committee as contemplated by the IA.

Further reporting, the Committee took note of the fact that Article 9.3 establishes a Joint Technical Secretariat mandated to develop standard access templates and provide technical support to the joint committees.

To this, the Joint Committee found no evidence that the Technical Secretariat was established; no access template developed or approved; no technical reports or analyses produced by such a Secretariat.

The absence of evidence regarding the functionality of these institutions, the committee said, “raises serious concerns as to whether Liberia complied with its treaty obligations under the Implementation Agreement.”

Diplomatic & Sovereign Risk Considerations

The Joint Committee said it is deeply concerned by the apparent lack of formal engagement with the Government of Guinea since September 2021, particularly given that the CAA is fundamentally premised on the transshipment of iron ore originating from Guinea; that guinea is a sovereign state whose consent and cooperation are indispensable to the viability of the project; and that failure to secure and document such consent exposes Liberia to diplomatic, legal, and commercial risks.

The Committee deemed it important that the official record reflect this concern, as the absence of Guinean concurrence constitutes a material risk to the implementation and sustainability of the CAA.

Economic & Fiscal Assessment

Taking cue from the Executive Branch’s presented that there would be enormous benefits of the CAA, including approximately 400 direct jobs and nearly 2,000 indirect jobs, local content opportunities for Liberian businesses and workers, direct payments to the Government of Liberia estimated at approximately US$1.8 billion over a 25-year period, and that of this amount, approximately US$110 million is projected to benefit affected communities, it noted that these projections were not accompanied by independent studies or detailed assumptions that could be interrogated by the Committee.

Regarding infrastructure and technical concerns, the joint committee said the Minister of Transport informed the Committee that Ivanhoe Atlantic plans to construct a 25-mile heavy-haul road from the Guinea–Liberia border to the Tokadeh stockyard.

Committee members expressed a number of concerns: that the proposed road would initially be laterite rather than paved, raising issues of durability, safety, environmental impact, and maintenance; there was insufficient clarity on the timeline for constructing a rail connection from the Guinean mine to the Tokadeh rail line, and that the feasibility study referenced a two-year timeline for rail construction, but this was not explicitly reflected as a binding obligation in the CAA.

Several Senators questioned the access fees stipulated in the CAA, ranging from US$1.95 to US$1.55 per metric ton, and that Committee took note on how several of the senators expressed the view that these rates appear low when compared to international benchmarks for access to existing rail infrastructure and that the Executive indicated that a study informed the agreed rates but did not provide the study for review, and the Committee considered it prudent that access fees reflect the strategic value of Liberia’s rail and port assets.

Sovereignty & Legislative Authority Concerns

The Joint Committee raised serious concerns regarding provisions of the CAA that mandate the establishment of a National Rail Authority (NRA), opining that establishing statutory bodies is a core legislative function, that embedding such mandates in a concession agreement risks undermining legislative sovereignty, and amending such provisions in the future could be difficult if subject to the consent of a private counterparty.

The Committee recommends that decisions of this nature be left to the sound judgment of the Legislature through standalone legislation.

Conditionality & Termination Risks

Some Senators questioned whether a refusal by the Government of Guinea to allow its iron ore to transit through Liberia would automatically terminate the CAA, and that The absence of Guinean approval could render the agreement ineffective.

Additionally, questions were raised as to whether a concession agreement is strictly necessary for the purpose of transshipment, as opposed to other legal arrangements.

Third-Party Rights & AML

According to the report, the Committee examined the potential interaction between the CAA and the existing rights of ArcelorMittal Liberia. Concerns raised included whether the CAA could conflict with or undermine AML’s contractual and legal rights; whether the Executive should have awaited the harmonized passage of the AML agreement, the Rail System Operating Principles (RSOP), the National Rail Authority Act, and the CAA.

In the view of the committee these instruments are interrelated and should be considered in a coordinated manner.

Financial Payments & Legal Basis

The Committee also examined the reported payment of approximately US$37 million by Ivanhoe, including an initial payment of US$7 million in December 2019, and raised concerns about the absence of clear legislative authorization for such payments prior to ratification of the IA in May 2021; the risk that such payments could be construed as a loan, potentially refundable with interest, and the need for clarity to protect the Government of Liberia from future claims.

Additionally, Senators questioned whether Ivanhoe should be required to provide a performance bond or parent company guarantee to secure its obligations under the agreement.

Findings & Recommendations

Based on its review, deliberations, and the evidence before it, the Joint Committee recommended that the Concession and Access Agreement be approved subject to a number of amendments.

The amendments include that that the Agreement provides that the 25-mile heavy-haul road from the Guinea–Liberia border to Tokadeh shall be fully paved prior to the commencement of any iron ore haulage; the Agreement should provide that the Social contributions to affected communities shall be structured so that Ivanhoe is not directly involved in the implementation of community projects, that the countries and affected communities be the only parties to implement, and the Agreement shall explicitly require Ivanhoe to construct the rail line from the Guinean mine to the Tokadeh rail connection within two (2) years after the start of commercial production, consistent with the feasibility study as indicated by the Executive;

They Committee requested that upon ratification, the US$37 million paid by Ivanhoe shall be deemed a non-refundable signature bonus and not a loan or advance; that the Government of Liberia shall consider increasing the access fee from the current range of US$1.95–US$1.55 per ton to a range of US$3.00–US$2.00 per ton; and that Agreement shall provide that if approval for the transshipment of Guinean iron ore through Liberia is not granted by the Government of Guinea within five (5) years, the Agreement shall automatically terminate.

The Joint Committee further recommended that Clause 16.1(d)(ii) be amended to clearly ensure that references to a National Rail Authority or an “NRA Act” do not constrain the constitutional authority of the Legislature, and that any decision to establish such an authority shall be made solely through separate legislative enactment, without giving rise to any contractual default or liability under the Agreement.

The Joint Committee submitted the Report to the Plenary of the Honorable Liberian Senate in fulfillment of its constitutional and statutory responsibilities.

“While recognizing the potential economic benefits of the proposed CAA, the Committee underscores the importance of safeguarding Liberia’s sovereignty, honoring international obligations, protecting public infrastructure, and ensuring that national interest remains paramount,” the committee concluded.

Report Grossly Ignored

But while those rather salient recommendations for amendment were yet to be corrected or acted upon, the Senate reportedly has passed the deal, leaving several unresolved issued hanging.