Liberian Activists Urge Freeze on New Mining Deals Until Decades-Old Law Is Rewritten

A coalition of civil society groups says signing long-term contracts under Liberia’s 2000 mining law would lock in the weak oversight, lost revenue and pollution that have marked the sector for decades. MONROVIA, Liberia — A coalition of civil society organizations in Liberia has called on the government to stop signing and ratifying new long-term mining contracts until the West African nation replaces its 26-year-old mining law. The CSO Consortium on Minerals, Mining, and Inclusive Sustainable Development made the appeal on Monday, October 26, at a press conference in the capital.

It urged President Joseph Nyuma Boakai and the national legislature to impose a moratorium on new Mineral Development Agreements (MDAs) — the contracts, typically lasting 25 years or more, that set the terms under which large mining companies operate and that carry the force of law once lawmakers ratify them. “We strongly believe that entering into new or additional long-term mineral development agreements under an outdated legal framework risk perpetuating existing governance weaknesses,” the coalition said. Its members include the Center for Transparency and Accountability in Liberia, Integrity Watch Liberia, the Sustainable Development Institute, Medica Liberia and ActionAid Liberia, among others. Wealth that has not reached communities Mining is central to Liberia’s economy. It accounts for about a fifth of gross domestic product and dominates exports, according to a March 2026 assessment by the Washington-based research group Forest Trends. Iron ore and gold are the main products. Yet the coalition said decades of extraction have not delivered matching jobs, public services or development for the communities that host mines. It blamed weak enforcement, corruption, the export of…