Liberian authorities are moving quickly to clear hurdles blocking third-party access to the country’s railway network, in a push that could accelerate investment across mining, logistics and other sectors, officials and industry participants said this week.
A series of meetings between government officials, concessionaires and technical rail-operating experts are set to advance Liberia’s long-delayed multi-user rail framework, including discussions on access to the Tokadeh stockpiling area in Nimba County and a workshop on establishing the National Rail Authority, or NRA.
The momentum follows a hearing on June 19 by the House of Representatives Committee on Investments and Concessions, which examined delays by ArcelorMittal Liberia (AML) in allowing Ivanhoe Atlantic access to the Yekepa-Buchanan railway.
Lawmakers last week pressed for companies’ decision-making executives, government officials, and technical and engineering experts to meet in Tokadeh to resolve the issue.
A meeting is scheduled for Friday to address access to the stockpiling area, a designated site for bulk raw materials and construction supplies that Ivanhoe Atlantic says it needs to proceed with its investment.
The company plans to use the railway to move ultra-high-grade iron ore from the Kon Kweni project in Guinea to the Port of Buchanan for export.
The same week, government officials, concessionaires and rail specialists are also expected to convene on Thursday and Friday for a workshop aimed at advancing the NRA, with draft legislation expected to be circulated for feedback, marking one of the clearest signs yet that the body could be established soon.
President Joseph Boakai reaffirmed the NRA in October through Executive Order 153, underscoring its role in managing Liberia’s sovereign rail assets and ensuring safe, efficient and equitable access. The authority is intended to support the administration’s ARREST agenda by opening the rail system to multiple users rather than a single operator or sector.
The Yekepa-Buchanan line is seen as central to that effort. Under a multi-user framework, the route could become a major transport corridor for critical minerals, linking Liberia’s resource-rich Nimba region with Buchanan port and potentially boosting regional trade.
Beyond mining, the rail network could also serve agriculture, forestry and industrial freight, while placing all users under the oversight of a single independent operator. This model would improve transparency, reduce fragmentation and strengthen accountability.
Ivanhoe Atlantic would be the first multi-user customer on the railway, with plans to eventually expand capacity from moving 2 million to 5 million metric tons of ultra-high grade iron ore a year, and later as much as 30 million tons, according to company officials.
The rapid pace of meetings this week suggests Liberian authorities are determined to remove bottlenecks and bring the country’s rail infrastructure under sovereign, independent management — a move that could help unlock new investment at a time when the government is seeking to broaden the economy beyond its existing concessions.
