Monrovia – The world’s largest steelmaker ArcelorMittal signed an $800-million expansion agreement with Liberia on Friday, the firm said, which is set to triple its production of iron ore in the country.
In a statement on Friday, the Luxembourg-based firm detailed a new mineral development agreement with the West African government that it said will boost its production to 15 million tonnes per year.
The steel giant is a major employer in Liberia, a nation of about 5 million that is poor despite having plentiful resources of iron ore, timber, diamonds and gold.
ArcelorMittal’s agreement entails a “substantial expansion of mining operations,” the statement said, in an investment worth some $800 million.
It will also enhance railway and port infrastructure, and is expected to create about 2 000 additional jobs.
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Liberian President George Weah was quoted in the statement as saying that the deal delivers on his “pro-poor” agenda.
During a signing ceremony in the capital Monrovia, ArcelorMittal Executive Chairperson Lakshmi Mittal also explained that the deal would triple the company’s current production levels of iron ore in Liberia.
“We are also exploring the potential to go beyond that – up to 30 million tonnes a year,” he added, according to a transcript of his speech.
The signing comes after, in 2019, ArcelorMittal threatened to freeze its Liberian investments over a murky dispute concerning a port concession in the country.
Decimated by back-to-back civil wars and the 2014-2016 Ebola crisis, Liberia is one of the world’s poorest countries.
It is also prone to inflation and periodic shortages of cash and fuel.
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Picture: Getty Images
Source: AFP
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