By Our Reporter | Smart News Liberia
MONROVIA – Transparency advocate Anderson Miamen, Executive Director of the Center for Transparency and Accountability in Liberia (CENTAL), has urged caution over Mansa Resources Limited’s announced US$600 million investment in Liberia’s Dugbe Gold Project, warning that such announcements should not be celebrated without clear accountability and guaranteed national benefit.
Mansa Resources Limited recently announced plans to invest US$600 million over the next three years to develop the Dugbe Gold Project in southeastern Liberia, one of West Africa’s largest undeveloped gold assets, estimated to contain about 3.9 million ounces of gold within the Birimian Gold Belt.
The company said the project could generate between 900 and 950 direct jobs during peak construction and operational phases and forms part of its expansion following the acquisition of Pasofino Gold Limited in February 2026. Backed by Nioko Resources Corporation and Orion Resource Partners, Mansa now controls both the Kouroussa Gold Mine in Guinea and the Dugbe development asset in Liberia.
Mansa also pledged that Liberians would be major beneficiaries of the project through technical training, skills development, and increased participation of local contractors and suppliers. The company said the project will proceed under Liberia’s existing 25-year Mineral Development Agreement, with an updated feasibility study expected in 2026 and a final investment decision targeted thereafter.
However, the announcement has triggered renewed debate over whether large-scale mining investments in Liberia truly deliver long-term benefits to citizens.
Responding to the development, Anderson Miamen cautioned that Liberia’s history with extractive sector agreements demands skepticism rather than excitement.
“News of another planned gold mining operation will only be exciting if it turns out to truly benefit the country,” Miamen stated.
He argued that Liberia’s past is filled with poorly structured and corruption-influenced concession agreements that have often failed to deliver meaningful gains to citizens and affected communities, despite high-profile investment announcements.
“We are at a point now that we don’t get excited about news of businesses coming in to invest in mining and other operations,” Miamen said. “Our history is replete with bad and corruption-induced agreements and so-called investors who either lack the capacity or operate in ways that are disadvantageous to citizens’ interest.”
He stressed that any new mining agreement must be transparently negotiated, inclusively designed, and clearly define how benefits will be distributed, monitored, and verified for Liberians and host communities.
Miamen further warned that Liberia’s extractive sector continues to suffer from weak oversight and compromised enforcement mechanisms, which he said have undermined public trust and allowed citizens to be sidelined from resource benefits.
“That trend must change,” he cautioned, stressing that the Dugbe project must not become another case of weak oversight and poor accountability in the country’s mining sector.
His remarks reflect long-standing concerns from civil society groups that Liberia’s natural resource wealth has not consistently translated into improved living conditions for citizens, despite decades of mining and concession agreements.
As Mansa advances toward feasibility studies and financing arrangements, attention is expected to focus not only on the scale of the investment but also on the transparency of the deal and the fairness of its implementation.
With US$600 million in projected investment and nearly 1,000 jobs promised, the Dugbe Gold Project is being positioned as a major economic opportunity. However, Miamen’s warning signals that public confidence will depend less on announcements and more on whether Liberia can finally ensure accountability, transparency, and equitable benefit-sharing in its extractive sector.
