Image: blk24ga / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 3.0
Finance Minister Augustine Ngafuan says Liberia has collected more than US$1bn in domestic revenue in a single year for the first time, and used the figure to court investors in New York.
Liberia has collected more than US$1 billion in domestic revenue within a single year for the first time, Finance and Development Planning Minister Augustine Kpehe Ngafuan announced on 14 September 2026, FrontPage Africa reported. Speaking at William V.S. Tubman University in Harper, Maryland County, the minister cited the Liberia Revenue Authority’s real-time dashboard and said the government is targeting US$1.3 billion by the end of 2026.
Investor pitch in New York
On 23 September FrontPage Africa reported on the Liberia Investment Dialogue, a roundtable held in New York on the margins of the UN General Assembly and co-organised by New Africa Capital. Ngafuan and other officials, including the Minister of Mines and Energy and the CEO of the Liberia Carbon Market Authority, presented the revenue milestone alongside an IMF projection of about 5.5% real GDP growth for 2026 and average inflation of 4.5% in the first half of the year.
Projects highlighted at the dialogue included a public-private partnership road programme valued at over US$360 million and the roughly 240km Buchanan to Yekepa railway, which is moving to a National Rail Authority model through 2029. Officials pointed to mining opportunities in iron ore, gold, diamonds, lithium, rare earths and bauxite, hydropower on the St. Paul and Sindon river corridors, and a target of 75% national electricity access by 2030.
Why it matters
Higher domestic revenue improves Liberia’s capacity to meet counterpart funding and payment obligations under PPPs and to service debt, which matters to lenders assessing sovereign and sub-sovereign risk. It also increases fiscal space for the kind of availability payments that a road PPP of the reported size would require. Investors will want to see how the revenue gains are reflected in the budget, in arrears clearance to contractors and in the PPP framework’s treatment of contingent liabilities.
The shift of the Buchanan to Yekepa line towards a National Rail Authority model is legally significant for miners seeking access to rail and port infrastructure currently tied to ArcelorMittal Liberia’s concession. Access terms, tariff regulation and dispute resolution under any new rail authority will determine whether third-party miners can move ore on bankable terms. Counsel advising on Liberian mining or infrastructure transactions should track the enabling legislation and any open-access rules that follow.
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