The Political Leader of the Alternative National Congress (ANC), Alexander B. Cummings, has condemned the model being used for concession agreements in Liberia, observing that the model is obsolete and does not guarantee a fair value for natural resources.
Cummings contended that the old concession model does not work because it is broken. He explained that the current model was established during President Charles Taylor’s regime when the country was just coming out of war. He said by then Liberia was a high-risk environment, and so the terms offered were more advantageous to potential investors because they were taking a lot of risks to come into a volatile environment, unlike now that the country is peaceful and stable.
He made the observation in a podcast on Wednesday, April 15, 2026, a few days after Bea Mountain Mining Corporation (BMMC) came under heavy criticism for its huge monthly gold intake with little tangibles to show in its affected communities.
Cummings however pointed out that his observation is not about Bea Mountain, but about the entire concession regime and the way the country goes about getting value from its natural resources. “So it could be ArcelorMittal, Alexander Cummings company, or any other company…if we don’t revisit this concession process, we will get the same results,” Cummings noted.
“We’ve got to revisit our operating models,” Cummings insisted. “We’ve got to question the Ministry of Mines and Energy…Do they have the right operating model? Are they using technology to monitor what leaves our country? Do we understand the full value chain of our natural resources?”
The ANC Political Leader stated that there are other models for how Liberians can get value for their natural resouces. “One is what they call production-sharing. So, rather than a royalty regime or profit-sharing regime, we can do the arithmetic to understand the economics of our natural resources and ask the company mining our natural resources to give us a certain percentage of whatever they extract. We can take the gold, iron ore, diamond, or whatever it is, and sell it on the open market and use the money to develop our country. Production-sharing is easier and simpler.
“Another model is to set up a natural resource company, and we, Liberians, become the shareholders. As owners of that company, we can go to the market, raise capital, hire expertise and develop and mind our own resources.”
Cummings maintained that there are several different models to work with, but the old concession model will have to change. “We have to do things differently, my people. We cannot keep doing the same thing and expect to have different results,” he added.
He bragged that this is his area of expertise—he understands economics, financial systems, and knows exactly how investors think and what they look for. “I understand the kind of environment you need to create, whether for Liberians or for foreign investors. The point is, it has to be a win-win. It cannot be they win and our people continue to suffer—no schools, no electricity, no healthcare—this is not acceptable in 2026 in the oldest Republican of Africa,” he maintained.
He accused those perpetuating the old model of benefitting from it, claiming that they either have contracts with these companies or take money under the table, while leaving the vast majority of the citizenry in poverty.
He concluded by saying, “We can do better. Liberia deserves better. We cannot keep doing the same thing over and over and expect different results. We cannot keep electing and selecting people with the same kinds of experience, who benefit from the system the way it is, and expect that things will change.”
