Liberia Secures First Port Deal with Morocco’s Tanger Med, Aims at Advancing Legacy Engagements into Full-Scale Infrastructure Modernization

MOROCCO/LIBERIA: Shifting from decades of fragmented port upgrades initiated by the Weah-led regime, the Government of Liberia, under President Joseph Nyuma Boakai, has formalized its first strategic port modernization agreement with Tanger Med Engineering, the technical subsidiary of Morocco’s internationally ranked Tanger Med Port Authority.

By: Abraham Sylvester Panto

Signed early May 2025 at the Tanger Med Port Complex in northern Morocco, the agreement was facilitated exclusively through the National Port Authority (NPA) as a reflection of the Boakai-Koung Administration’s inaugural maritime infrastructure contract while simultaneously advancing exploratory engagements.

The effort was initiated under the Weah-Taylor Coalition for Democratic Change (CDC)-led administration in November 2022, when then-President Weah participated in the African Investment Forum in Rabat and signaled Liberia’s interest in aligning with high-performance port operators such as Tanger Med.

The Weah-led government's initial diplomatic and technical engagements with the Moroccan Port Authority failed to produce any binding frameworks or execution blueprints, leaving the groundwork inactive.

However, institutional lapses, fiscal nonalignment, and interagency disconnects during the Weah era undermined momentum, with Tanger Med Engineering eventually pausing its West African outreach to Liberia by the third quarter of 2023 due to what internal reports cited as “absence of actionable intergovernmental structure.”

The newly signed accord, rooted in engineering assessments conducted between January and March 2025 by joint NPA–Tanger Med field teams, marks Liberia’s inaugural port infrastructure engagement with a top-five African maritime authority.

The initiative represents what seems to be a significant elevation of institutional ambition and operational discipline within the country’s maritime governance framework.

In Monrovia and Buchanan, where over 80% of the nation’s seaborne imports are currently processed through outdated and congested terminals, the agreement provides for a comprehensive Master Plan that redefines the structural and operational future of Liberia’s two main commercial ports—the Freeport of Monrovia and the Port of Buchanan—through a multi-phase engineering strategy tied to regional trade alignment benchmarks.

The Freeport of Monrovia and Buchanan Port, which remains Liberia’s most active maritime terminal, is set to undergo its most comprehensive and strategically structured foreign-engineered reconfiguration of container yard systems and berth extensions, reduce cargo clearance delay, and digitize port and customs services with scheduled enhancements to achieve capacity capable of accommodating Panama-class vessels.

According to the official release from the NPA, led by Managing Director Sekou H. Dukuly, this is the Boakai-Koung Administration’s first international infrastructure cooperation agreement under its ARREST Agenda, targeting the pillars of economic renewal, regional integration, and institutional transformation with clear technical output.

The agreement includes measurable milestones, a full technical feasibility assessment by Q3 2025, dredging and yard rehabilitation by mid-2026, and a functional container scanning and logistics digitization system by January 2027, all backed by Tanger Med Engineering’s deployment of resident maritime engineers in Liberia.

With Tanger Med Port handling 107.8 million metric tons of cargo in 2023 and ranked fourth globally in the World Bank’s 2022 CPPI (Container Port Performance Index), Liberia’s alignment with such a partner marks the first instance in its maritime history of cooperation with a top-10 global maritime actor.

The partnership positions Liberia to emerge as a trade gateway for regional landlocked economies, especially Mali and Guinea, by establishing direct transshipment capability at Buchanan.

Tanger Med’s scope of operation also includes Liberia’s first Smart Customs pilot, which will integrate satellite container tracking, blockchain-verified documentation, and biometric gate access to reduce smuggling, increase clearance speed, and eliminate systemic revenue losses in port operations.

The NPA confirmed that all port development subcontracts must comply with Liberia’s first Technical Prequalification Framework for Maritime Works, which will screen civil contractors, crane suppliers, and dredging firms’ compliance before contract issuance.

By 2029, Buchanan will have the capacity to host double-berthing of capsize vessels for the first time, with a projected 30% increase in regional ore shipment market share, aligned with Guinea’s bauxite export growth and Mali’s corridor needs.