President Joseph Boakai has told cabinet ministers to accelerate negotiation in the mining and other vital sectors to generate jobs and alleviate rampant unemployment in Liberia.
He said his officials could face the wrath of jobless young people if the matter relating to economic opportunities for youth is not addressed with urgency.
“They will come to our homes and offices,” the 80-year-old leader said Thursday during his second cabinet meeting of the year at the Executive Mansion in Monrovia..
“We need to create job. People have to be employed. If they are not employed we are in trouble.
“We have to pay attention to Youth Issues. Lot of young people have gone to schools, they have graduated, they have degrees and fighting to have a job. They don’t have job.”
With over 70% of Liberia’s population under the age of 35, the lack of viable economic opportunities has left many youths vulnerable to gangsterism, which offers not only a sense of belonging but also a means of economic survival, recent study shows
Authored by the Institute for Security Studies, the report shed light on the alarming rise of youth gangs in Liberia, attributing their formation to the remnants of civil war, economic decline, and the systemic social exclusion of a growing underclass.
Gangsterism is embedded in Liberia’s urban centres, particularly Monrovia, and is characterised by the use of violence to establish territorial control and undertake criminal activities such as theft, home invasions, extortion, arson, rape, drug trafficking and murder, it said.
Mining as Game Changer
The mining sector is attracting significant investment after discovering substantial mineral deposits. In January 2025, President Joseph Boakai announced that studies funded by China over five decades had confirmed uranium, lithium, cobalt, manganese and neodymium reserves. These findings are expected to draw $3bn in investment, with multinational corporations and local investors already in negotiations.
Iron ore remains dominant, with ArcelorMittal advancing its Phase II expansion project in the Nimba mountain range. Scheduled for commissioning in the fourth quarter of 2024, this development includes the construction of the country’s first iron ore concentration plant. The expansion is expected to raise production by 40% year on year in 2025, significantly improving export capacity.
China Union’s investment in the Bong Mines, located 150 km northeast of Monrovia, highlights continuing international interest in the sector. The company invested $2.6bn in 2008 and commenced iron ore shipments in 2014.
Liberia’s mining industry contributes around 15% to GDP and has rebounded significantly since the country’s devastating civil war ended in 2003. Traditionally focused on iron ore, gold and diamonds, the sector is expanding as discoveries of lithium, rare earths and other critical minerals attract fresh investment.
Iron ore has historically been the most significant mineral, with significant deposits concentrated in the Archaean belts of the northwest and central regions, notably in the Nimba Range, Bong Range, Wologizi Range and Bea Mountain. Since peace was restored, mining has steadily recovered, with iron ore production increasing and gold output rising annually.
A new wave of exploration is reshaping the country’s economic prospects. With vast untapped reserves of critical minerals, Liberia has the potential to strengthen its position in the global mining industry.
