These are the ports of Buchanan and Greenville in Sinoe County and the port of Harper in Maryland County. In the background, a borderless “war” is being played out between China and the United States. In fact, U.S. entrepreneurs are present in the Port Buchanan. Specifically, on February 5, 2020, a group of U.S. investors took a controlling interest in the Prista Port Buchannan project in the Republic of Liberia.
Liberian President Boakai will soon lead a high-level Liberian delegation to China as part of ongoing negotiations to outsource three Liberian ports.
These are the ports of Buchanan and Greenville in Sinoe County and the port of Harper in Maryland County.
The National Port Authority of Liberia system (NPA) comprises of four ports: Freeport of Monrovia, Port of Buchanan, Port of Greenville, and Port of Harper. The Freeport of Monrovia is the largest within the Authority's network.
In particular, Boakai will travel to China for the China-Africa Forum (FOCAC) meetings to be held in Beijing on September 4-6, 2024. According to FPA, this trip is considered crucial in identifying strategic partners for the ARREST agenda.
The port outsourcing project would be part of the ARREST Agenda for Inclusive Development, launched last month. It is a five-year plan, starting in 2025, that aims to develop the public sector and the economies of each of Liberia's 15 counties.
On the occasion, President Boakai will bring along key cabinet officials, including ministers and agency heads, to participate in high-level discussions.
The Boakai-Koung administration, much like its predecessor, has been actively seeking opportunities and exploring various options to secure resources for its development agenda. Sources indicate that the upcoming trip to Asia is seen as a prime opportunity to garner support for key initiatives, including the administration’s road projects and the potential outsourcing of the Buchanan, Greenville, and Harper ports.
The delegation for the Beijing visit includes Amin Modad, Minister of Commerce; Roland L. Giddings, Minister of Public Works; Jerolinmek Piah, Minister of Information, Cultural Affairs, and Tourism; Samuel Kofi Woods, National Security Advisor; Cllr. Neto Zarzar Lighe, Commissioner/Chief Executive Officer of the Liberia Maritime Authority. Others joining the trip are Gregory Coleman, Inspector-General of Police; Sekou Dukuly, Managing Director of the National Port Authority; and Eugene L. Fahngon, Director-General of the Liberia Broadcasting System.
The China-Africa Forum will allow African and Chinese leaders to discuss matters of mutual interest. President Boakai sees this as an opportunity to present Liberia as an attractive destination for Chinese investments, particularly in line with his ARREST Agenda.
Trip Coincides with Chinese Delegation’s Visit to Buchanan Port.
President Boakai’s trip coincides with ongoing negotiations to outsource Liberia’s three ports outside of Monrovia - Buchanan, Greenville in Sinoe County, and Harper in Maryland County - to a Chinese counterpart. Recently, a four-member delegation from the China Railway Construction Bridge Engineering Bureau Group visited the Port of Buchanan to conduct an assessment and develop a master plan for its development.
Scott Lin, head of the Chinese delegation, stated that their goal is to enable the port to attract investors interested in its growth. Lin mentioned that the assessment has been completed and that they will report back to their superiors, with plans to reconnect with port management soon.
Port of Buchanan Manager, Hon. Jonathan Kaipay, expressed gratitude for the delegation’s visit, noting that it is part of ongoing efforts to modernize the port’s operations. The Port of Buchanan, Liberia’s second-largest harbor, plays a crucial role in shipping the country’s raw materials.
The Chinese delegation has committed to developing a comprehensive plan that will address the port’s vulnerabilities and ensure its long-term viability. This plan will include measures to strengthen the port’s infrastructure, such as building seawalls and breakwaters to protect against erosion.
FPA has learned that the Boakai administration is also contemplating outsourcing the Ports of Greenville and Harper. Discussions with relevant Chinese authorities are expected to continue during the President’s visit to China.
Other issues topping the President’s agenda include agriculture, communications, and road projects. The Liberian government is also expected to renegotiate the controversial Yellow Machine deal with South Africa’s GUMA Group and China-based SANY Group, sources say.
President Boakai’s first trip to China comes as the United States continues to bolster its influence on its key allies in Africa, amid the growing influence of Russia and China. It also follows calls for Liberia to explore other strategic partnerships. Notably, during Liberia’s 177th Independence Day celebrations, orator Dr. Robtel Pailey criticized U.S.-Liberia relations and urged the government to forge new partnerships based on mutual benefit.
Accompanying the delegation to China is a group from Liberia’s 55th Legislature, led by Senator Nyonblee Karnga-Lawrence, a key ally of President Boakai.
In the background, a borderless “war” is being played out between China and the United States. In fact, U.S. entrepreneurs are present in the Port Buchanan. Specifically, on February 5, 2020, a group of U.S. investors took a controlling interest in the Prista Port Buchannan project in the Republic of Liberia.
According to a release, Karnga-Lawrence is already in China, will deliver a speech on “Poverty Eradication and Sustainable Development,” addressing the challenges and strategies for reducing poverty and promoting sustainable growth globally.
Senator Darius Dillon, who chairs the Senate Committee on Foreign Affairs, will also deliver a speech on “Global Security and Lasting Peace,” sharing insights on Liberia’s role in promoting peace and security on the international stage.
Although the acquisition of the ports represents a definite Chinese strategy to increase wealth and secure constant and direct access to natural resources for national security and the growing industrial sector (think lithium), their possession is also enormously valuable to Beijing in projecting outward its global power, including military power (read here).
All Chinese commercial ports may serve as military bases in the future.
Port of Greenville
Greenville Port lies in southeastern Liberia and is sheltered by 450 meters long breakwaters. The interior has two docks and two berths measuring 70 m and 180 m respectively.
It is multimodal and easily accessible by waterways, roads and also railways. Its strategic geographical location offers the most effective and cheap transportation services.
Greenville is a designated U.S Port of Entry. It is an important centre of national and global trade and brings in millions to the Liberian economy every year. The port has also led to the creation of employment and also financially aided the local coastal communities.
It is one of the busiest and biggest ports that handle a variety of cargo every day. It has modern equipment that is fully functional and adds to the port’s operational capacity. It has a 60 tonnes bridge crane and also huge storage facilities such as a 22,000 sq. ft. warehouse with and a50,000 sq. ft outer paved storage area.
It also has a 130 tonnes crawler crane, a 100 tonnes crane, 5 forklifts of different capacities ranging from 5000 lbs to 50,000 lbs, clam buckets, skid loader, truck hopper and a 50,000 lbs wheel loader. It has a Sennebogen 835 crane for carrying out loading and unloading operations, an LST 218 crawler crane, Truck and rail conveyor belts, and magnets for removing scrap.
This port deals with 5.3 million tonnes of cargo traffic annually. A large number of raw materials and goods from the delta area are transported via the Greenville port. These include corn, wheat, soybeans, rice, gasoline, diesel fuel; bio-diesel products; chemicals; steel, scrap steel, lumber, and other wood-based goods.
The port also offers harbour and fleeting service and also drydock and ship repairs. It has separate terminals for handling grains, LPG Gas, sand and gravel.
Port of Buchanan
The Buchanan Port is the second biggest port in Liberia, situated 90 km southeast of Monrovia. Its harbour is well-sheltered, having two breakwaters, the main one and the second one that is 1,890m and 590m long.
It receives all kinds of carriers and ships, but 77% of vessels coming here are bulk carriers. About 200 m long ships weighing around 6650 DWT can enter this port as the draught is about 8.5 m. This port mainly deals with ore exports. In the inner basin, a quay for loading ore is located that is 225 m long and is near the commercial dock. Its water depth is 10.5 m. There is another berth near the ore berth that is used for the ore carriers. The commercial berth is 334 m long and has a water depth of 9.6 m. It lies on the secondary breakwater while the ore quay is near the shore.
This port is important for the Liberian economy as it carries out a huge chunk of Liberian international trade and adds significantly to the economy. The port exports about 11,500,000 tonnes of cargo and goods while the Imports account for 250,000 tonnes. The largest vessel that came to this port had an LOA of 290 m and the draught is 12.9 m at the ore loading quay. The entrance channel to the port has a water depth of 11.5 meters and the channel between the breakwaters is 210 m broad.
This port has seen an increase in cargo traffic in recent years due to an agreement regarding handling port equipment. The agreement signed with UMARCO has led to an improvement in the Port’s services, handling capacity and has simplified the port operations.
The government and the Port Authority believe that many big companies such as Chevron, Equatorial Palm Oil, and African Petroleum etc are interested in using the Port facility for carrying out trade operations. This is good news for the Liberian economy as now Buchanan port has the potential and opportunity to earn handsome revenues. However, this requires more investment in the port’s infrastructure so it can be at par with global ports. Also, there is a need to improve its operational efficiency and bring in smooth and strict management to prevent delays in operations.
Port of Harper
The Harper Port is about 760 km from Monrovia and shares its border with the Ivory Coast. It was built in 1959 on the rocky islands. It is small compared to the other ports in Liberia and covers only 9.23 acres.
It has a 100 m long wharf of concrete that has a water depth of 5.5 meters, and so only small vessels can dock at this port.
The southern portion of the port has an administrative building, an office and a repair workshop while the western part hosts the operations department building. The pier lies on the northern side of the port area.
The port of Harper is now used for importing food items and construction equipment from the capital, Monrovia. It also exports teak and rubber to Buchanan port. From Buchanan, these materials are supplied worldwide.
This port was primarily built to export oil palms, timber, rubber and to import machinery, building and construction material, petroleum goods and other foodstuffs. But civil wars and political unrest severely impacted the port’s activities and reduced the efficiency of services.
Now, this port handles only general cargo and containerized cargo for humanitarian services. It needs to be refurbished since shanty buildings and broken containers can be seen lying in the open.
The port needs much infrastructural development. Currently, there are no storage facilities and also reduced berthing facilities. It requires dredging up to 10 to 13 m to accommodate bigger ships.
Tug and pilotage service is also not available. The port has an open storage space and handled 7000 MT of cargo in 2019.
The port does not have much port equipment, just 2 forklifts with a capacity of 5 million tonnes and also no container terminal is present at this port. The containers are kept in the open storage area that spans 1050m2.
Given the port’s condition, the Liberian Government has commenced the Harper Port refurbishment project in February 2021. This would lead to the construction of a petroleum storage terminal in the port area, which would cost US$ 6 million. There are plans to dredge the port to attract investment, companies and bigger vessels to increase the port’s cargo traffic.
Liberia
The west African nation of Liberia became a fast-growing economy in 2011 despite civil wars and political upheavals. This was due to the growth led by the agricultural sector especially exports of rubber and timber.
The nation’s economy is primarily based on agriculture followed by mining and telecommunications. The main imports include machine equipment, consumer products, raw materials, refined petroleum, boat propellers and centrifuges. Liberia imports these trade goods from China, Japan, South Korea, Brazil and Germany.
The country earns valuable revenue through exports of rubber, diamonds, gold and iron. The country has trade links with North America, Europe and also Middle eastern nations.
Liberia also has many natural resources yet political conflict and corruption hinder economic growth. It has five ports that need to be expanded and also the infrastructure needs to be improved to meet global standards.
The National Port Authority, made by an Act of the country’s legislature is a state body that operates, manages, plans, and builds the ports in Liberia. Liberian ports play a crucial role in the development of the economy as they bring in precious revenue that is much needed in this gradually developing the African nation.
Chinese port projects in West Africa
China has spent $6.9 billion on port projects in West Africa in nine nations: Angola, Cameroon, Ivory Coast, Equatorial Guinea, Ghana, Guinea-Bissau, Mauritania, Nigeria and Sierra Leone.
According to Alexander Wooley, director of partnerships and communications at AidData, flows of money and other resources from China to West African nations may indicate that such expansion is underway.
There are indications that Equatorial Guinea and Cameroon are likely contenders for a Chinese port. China has already spent more than $659 million to improve the port in Bata, Equatorial Guinea, and more than $1.3 billion in Kribi, Cameroon.
Both locations would offer the CCP an unprecedented position in the Gulf of Guinea, consolidating China as a nation of choice for foreign investment throughout Africa's rapidly expanding market and providing the regime with a foothold on the Atlantic Ocean.
A Chinese naval base in West or Central Africa would put the People's Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) within easy reach of the United States and NATO member countries (read here).
A senior U.S. general said that Bata appeared to be where the regime had been most successful in its efforts to expand its African military presence.
Kribi now boasts fairly deep waters and a pier large enough to accommodate China's largest warships.
Both Bata and Kribi ports have attractive conditions for Beijing to establish bases and long-term relations with their leadership.
In any case, the CCP's main goal will always be to preserve its realm of influence in addition to expanding it. As for naval bases, they are more likely to be built from within and then expand outward.
It is probable, therefore, that the Liberian Port of Greenville will also fit into this sprawling CCP strategy.
The China-Liberia economic and trade cooperation has been growing since the resumption of bilateral cooperation in 2003 and the continuous peace-building in Liberia. In 2012, the Chinese Government offered 95% of the Liberian exports to China with duty-free treatment. In 2015, the Chinese Government offered 97% of the Liberian exports to China with duty-free treatment.
According to the statistics issued by the General Administration of Customs of China, the Chinese-Liberian trade volume in 2019 totaled US$4.03 billion, up 97% year-on-year, among which China's export to Liberia reached US$3.91 billion, a year-on-year increase of 99.6%, while its import from Liberia was US$0.12 billion, up 39.4% year-on-year. China has been encouraging all sectors in Liberia to expand its export to China by taking the advantages of China's offer of 97% of the Liberian exports to China with duty-free treatment as well as various economic and trade promotion activities in China including the China International Import Expo(CIIE), the Canton Fair, and the China-Africa Economic and Trade Expo.
According to the statistics from the Ministry of Commerce of China, the Foreign Direct Investment flowing from China to Liberia reached US$26.44 million in 2019. From January to December 2019, the value of China's newly signed project contracts in Liberia was US$300 million, a year-on-year increase of 138.7%, and the completed turnover was US$440 million, a year-on-year increase of 123.5%.
The Chinese enterprises and investors have been engaged in various investment and trade activities in Liberia covering many sectors, including mining development, infrastructure construction, pelagic fishery, forestry, industrial explosive services, telecommunication, logistics services, small commodity trade, so on and so forth.
China Liberia relations
Since China and Liberia established diplomatic ties, the Chinese government has aided Liberia by funding and implementing the construction of the Barreke Sugar Mill, the SKD Sports Complex and its renovation project, the renovation project of Liberia Broadcasting System, the Tappita hospital (Jackson F. Doe Memorial Regional Referral Hospital), the office building of the Ministry of Health, 3 rural middle schools, the agricultural technology demonstration center in Bong county, the Monrovia Vocational Training Center, the Fendell campus of the University of Liberia, Ebola Treatment Unit (ETU), Anti-malaria laboratory in JFK medical center, 50 bored wells in rural areas, two annexes to the Capitol Building, the Ministerial Complex, the new terminal of Roberts International Airport (concessional loan), etc. Besides, the Chinese government has provided vehicles and thousand tons of humanitarian aid rice to the Liberia government.
Moreover, the Chinese government has also conducted various technical assistance in Liberia such as the bamboo and rattan weaving and vegetable plantation technical cooperation project, the Liberia Broadcasting System technical cooperation project, the agriculture technical cooperation project, the SKD Sports Complex technical cooperation project, and the mineral resources prospecting technical cooperation project and trained more than 2500 Liberian youth in areas of agriculture, broadcasting, mineral resource prospecting, facility maintenance and so forth.
Komentarze