Monrovia – Two Liberian diplomats weighing-in on the US$54 million grant from the People’s Republic of China to Liberia say the gesture “was in the pipeline” as a result of frantic negotiations by the former administration of Ellen Johnson Sirleaf.
Report by Alpha Daffae Senkpeni, [email protected]
However, they hailed President George Weah and delegation attending the Forum on China Africa Cooperation or FOCAC, which started on September 3 in Beijing, for “putting finishing touches on the deal for the final signature”.
Dr. Lawrence Bropleh, a former Minister of Information and former permanent representative to the United Nations’ world council of churches, told FrontPage Africa on Monday that “diplomats do not go to a forum before beginning negotiation” rather discussions are often held long before the finalization of agreements.
“What is coming to Liberia is what was already in the pipeline,” Dr. Bropleh said of a US$54 million grant.
Also, Dr. Augustine Konneh, former director of the Foreign Service Institute at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs who also worked with the Sirleaf administration to tap into the opportunities of FOCAC, added that garnering the expertise of shrewd diplomats is significant to deepening bilateral cooperation with China.
“The money is there but you have to have the technical know-how to be able to do proposals for those projects so that you will be able to accrue the money and that’s where the diplomatic skills come in terms of negotiations,” Dr. Konneh said, adding that the US$54 million is a complementary support to the ministerial complex project which was sealed in 2015.
Small Piece of China’s Pie
The Liberian government announced on September 2 before the start of the FOCAC summit that President Weah had met with Chinese President Xi Jinping and the two leaders signed two separate agreements totaling US$54 million for the construction of two overpasses at SKD Boulevard and the Ministerial Complex and the other is the provision of emergency food aid.
Although the two agreements have attracted applause, critics say Liberia’s piece of the pie is ‘“very infinitesimal” as compared to several other African countries like Ghana that scooped US$2.1 billion for its energy project. Nigeria sealed a US$328 million loan deal to boost its telecommunication sector while neighboring Sierra Leone was able to pitch its priority projects including a massive fishery project.
Chinese President Xi said at the opening of the forum that his country had pledged US$60 billion to help augment Africa’s sustainable development.
This makes the world’s second-largest economy the single largest bilateral financier of infrastructure in Africa.
While many assert that Liberia can leverage its presence at the forum and dig deeper into what Beijing has to offer the continent, Dr. Bropleh says the new government is continuing from where its predecessor stopped.
“One of the things we an be thankful for is that our diplomatic foundation – both bilateral and multilateral – across the world has been solidly built and what President Weah is doing is building upon it and that’s how continuity in government should be,” he said, adding that it will take sometimes before elements in the government can find their own niche on the diplomatic scene.
However, he stressed that at multilateral fora like FOCAC, A country’s circumstance and context would be different bilaterally based on early conversations and proven ability in terms of its economy.
Liberia’s situation is dismal and its economy has shown little progress since the end of the devastating Ebola outbreak made worsened by plunged in the prices of the country’s major exports.
Leverage Significant Gains
And Bropleh urged the current administration to employ diplomatic means to enhance the deepening of ties with Beijing, including emulation of the former administration that was able to lure former Chinese president Hu Jintao to Monrovia for a state visit.
He said bringing onboard diplomatic experts, who understand the bilateral contextual relevance of Liberia-China relations, would leverage significant gains for the country.
At the same time, Dr. Konneh, who agrees with Bropleh’s assertions, adds that Liberia would have to come up with specific proposals targeting investments, employment, and other development cooperation in order to maximize the opportunities provided by China’s multilateral and bilateral frameworks.
“Going forward, this government will have to be able to get people who understand the issues with regards to how to get money from the FOCAC… so bringing the right kind of people with the skills to negotiate will help the future prosperity of the country,” said Dr. Konneh, who is now the Director of the Graduate School at the AME University in Monrovia.
The Weah administration has already reaffirmed its commitment to the One China Policy; and the former Information minister suggests that maintaining the policy would amass more rewards for the country.
“Nothing excites Beijing more than understanding that this relationship is grounded in the one China policy; there should be no deviation, there should be no periphery conversation regarding Taiwan because it will than kill the ties in the manner and form that the wave will be so strong,” Dr. Bropleh said.
No Money for Roads?
The Weah administration is pushing for loans to fund its ambitious road projects, which it says would help resuscitate the economy and alleviate poverty.
But it has experienced turbulence in sourcing loans from questionable and controversial private lenders. Some economists have suggested that the government turns to traditional financial institutions or countries like China.
It is unclear what is unfolding behind the scene in Beijing regarding President Weah’s pitch for his road agenda, which is said to be at the top of the list he took with him on the plane to Beijing.
Dr. Konneh insists that proffering proposals that are feasible would lure the necessary funding from the pool of fund put forward by the Chinese.
“This is a soft loan, so they have to guide you in such a way that will ensure that you payback the money and that’s why they call it a win-win cooperation,” he said.
Meanwhile, Dr. Bropleh recalled that the Chinese government proposed during the Sirleaf’s administration that it would have helped construct Liberia’s coastal highway.
Serving as Minister of Information at the time, he claims to have participated in some of the early conversations about the road proposal, which he said, was put at US$400 million.
“I know that in 2006-2007, the Chinese government proposed to Liberia its support for the coastal highway – I know that for a fact. What I would like to see is the revitalization of the remnant of that conversation,” he suggested.
“The Chinese had said at the time that they couldn’t raise all of that [money] but they were willing to come with a substantial portion of that. I think Minister Findley (Foreign Minister), Minister Tweah (Finance Minister) and President Weah can begin to have some conversations to see if there can be any revitalization of those conversations.”
But the Chinese ambassador to Liberia, in an interview with FrontPage Africa early this year, said that it would only loan money for projects that are sustainable.
Said Ambassador Fu Jijun: “My personal opinion is that it will be much better than just building the road to be used free. The road should contribute to the revenue and pay back the loan.”
He suggested that concessional loan proposals should show how new roads could payback, and this would require rigorous assessment and subsequent approval by a particular Chinese bank.
Economists have put road as a major binding constraint impeding Liberia’s economic growth, at the same time, there are suspicions about accruing hefty debates that wouldn’t be payback.
Bropleh says during the 2006-2007 discussions for the coastal highway with the Chinese, there were proposals to erect tolls to generate revenue from the roads.