The Minister of Foreign Affairs and African Integration and the Diaspora of Cote D’Ivoire, H.E. Kandia Kamissoko Camara, has disclosed that the President of Cote D’Ivoire, Alassane Ouattara, has given specific instruction that agreements between the two sisterly countries to supply petroleum products, in particular gasoline, diesel and bitumen to Liberia bear fruit as soon as possible.
Speaking on Wednesday, September 15, 2021 at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and African Integration and the Diaspora of Cote D’Ivoire in Abidjan, Minister Camara said a few weeks ago Cote D’Ivoire discovered a huge quantity of oil and gas reserve on its coast, which put them in a good position to supply Liberia with petroleum products.
For his part, Foreign Affairs Minister, H.E. Ambassador Dee-Maxwell Saah Kemayah, Sr., who is on an official working visit to Cote D’Ivoire, said on May 21, 2021 he wrote H.E. Kandia Kamissoko Camara, Minister of Foreign Affairs and African Integration and the Diaspora of Cote D’Ivoire expressing Liberia’s desire for Cote D’Ivoire to supply Liberia with petroleum products, noting that this is in line with President George Manneh Weah’s “Pro-poor Agenda for Prosperity and Development (PAPD)” vision: Liberians having access to basic commodities in the country at all times.
The Liberian chief diplomat said the request of his delegation is to benefit from petroleum products of Côte d’Ivoire—that is, for it to be supplied to Liberia in order to avoid the shortage of petroleum products on the Liberian market. He noted that gasoline is a political commodity that can easily cause instability in the sub-region.
On Tuesday, September 14, 2021 Minister Kemayah and delegation met the Minister of Mines, Petroleum and Energy of Cote d’Ivoire, Thomas Camara, who welcomed the strong delegation from the Republic of Liberia, led by the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Liberia, stating that the delegation is composed of specialists in the field of petroleum, in particular from the Liberia Petroleum Refinery Company (LPRC).
Minister Camara told newsmen minutes after the first high-level meeting that the purpose of the visit is to benefit from the production of petroleum products in Côte d’Ivoire for supply to Liberia. “The Liberian government, through this delegation, is requesting Côte d’Ivoire to supply the Republic of Liberia with conventional petroleum products such as gasoline, diesel and bitumen. We express our satisfaction to the extent that the Ivorian Refining Company (SIR) and the Multinational Company of Bitumen (SMB) are two refineries that perfectly work in Côte d’Ivoire. Both refineries are at their peak. They are working very well. We have, therefore, welcomed this demand from the Republic of Liberia, and we also informed them that we are able to meet this demand and provide them with refined products from SIR and SMB. As for SMB, it is the bitumen, and SIR, it is the conventional petroleum products,” Minster Camara said.
“To meet this demand, we are intending to sign two agreements: first, a high-level agreement between the Ivorian minister and the Liberian minister demonstrating commitment of the two governments to cooperate as well; and second, an agreement between economic and technical operators. On the Ivorian side, there will be the SIR and the SMB. On the Liberian side, there will therefore be the Liberia Petroleum Refining Company (LPRC), which will receive the products.
“Then, we will designate an operator in the middle who will carry the products in Côte d’Ivoire and deliver them to Liberia. Here are the two agreements that are planned and that we agreed to sign during this mission.
“All of these points will be discussed between Côte d’Ivoire and Liberia’s operational staff tomorrow. Today’s discussions were focused on the opening session and the general principles. A work program has been established for Wednesday, Thursday and Friday, where operational staff will agree on the quantities of products, the pace of deliveries and the size of the batches, etc. All the delivery conditions will be discussed between operational staff, team from Liberia and team from Côte d’Ivoire. All of this will be concluded in the next few days.
“Absolutely, I would like to remind you that last week, we received a Togolese delegation, led by my counterpart in charge of Mines and Energy, who came to be inspired by the Ivorian model in energy. This week, we are honored to welcome the Liberian delegation requesting for our support in supplying Liberia with petroleum products. We believe that your question is true. We are at the center of this region, and are the energy petroleum hub of the sub-region. We welcome the interest and confidence that neighboring countries have shown in Côte d’Ivoire. Finally, we wish to salute our high authorities, in particular His Excellency Mr. Alassane Ouattara, President of the Republic, and the Prime Minister, Mr. Patrick Achi, who are working so that Côte d’Ivoire shines internationally. This is what see today,” the Ivoirian Minister of Petroleum intoned.
Minister Kemayah is accompanied by the Managing Director of the Liberia Petroleum Refinery Company (LPRC), Marie Urey-Coleman; Adrian Mario Hoff, Deputy Managing Director for Operations; Naomi Gray, Assistant Minister for Afro-Asian Affairs, Ministry of Foreign Affairs; Sherdrick Jackson, Assistant Minister for International Cooperation, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, among others.