President Joseph Nyuma Boakai, Sr. has departed the country this morning for a working visit to Washington, D.C., United States of America, as one of five African Heads of State invited by U.S. President Donald J. Trump to attend the African Leaders Summit, hosted at the White House from July 7 to 11, 2025.
Other Heads of State attending this Summit will be from Gabon, Guinea Bissau, Mauritania, and Senegal.
ย ย During the Summit, President Boakai will hold discussions with President Trump and other senior U.S. officials on a range of critical issues, including economic development, governance, security, energy cooperation, and democratic consolidation.
The visit will also focus on reinforcing Liberiaโs long-standing partnership with the United States and strengthening new areas of collaboration in health, education, and infrastructure.
ย ย However, ahead of his departure, President Boakai secretly signed a controversial agreement between Ivanhole Atlantic and the Government of Liberia, which has been lingering since the George Weah administration. Ivanhole Atlantic is the mother company of High Power Exploration (HPX) Incorporated.
The news of the signing remained hidden until the U.S. Embassy near Monrovia wrote, welcoming the signing of the concession and access agreement.
According to the US embassy, the concession is estimated at $1.8 billion, and termed it a crucial step towards President Boakaiโs objectives of developing Liberiaโs multi-user rail policy and securing new international investment.
ย ย According to information, negotiations between the government and Ivanhole concluded on Saturday, July 5, 2025, and the agreement was immediately forwarded to President Boakai who reportedly signed it on Sunday before departing Monrovia on Monday.
ย ย The Hot Pepper has learned that President Boakai was pressured into signing the deal before leaving for the United States, as he was made to believe that his administrationโs delay in signing the deal would be of serious concern to President Trumpโs administration, which has accused Liberia of largely being a โpro-Chinaโ state.
Sources also hinted the paper that another important point of discussion is the United States Africa Command (AFRICOM) headquarters for West Africa. Liberia is said to be among a few countries listed to host the facility. Others are Ghana and Senegal.
ย ย In order to be on good terms with the Trump administration, sources told the Hot Pepper that President Boakai was advised to ensure that the HPX deal was signed and sealed before he meets with the US President.
Consequently, the action of the Boakai administration constitutes a grave breach of the Mineral Development Agreement between the Government of Liberia (GOL) and ArcelorMittal-Liberia, which still has a few more years to its expiry.
