By: Varney Dukuly
MONROVIA: As the debate over the controversial Fouani ‘Incentive Deal’ heightens, River Gee County District#3 Representative, Francis Dopoh, II, has filed a motion to House Speaker, Dr. Bhofal Chambers, in hopes of recalling the ‘Investment Agreement of Fouani Brothers Corporation,’ a stunning reversal, if adopted, would weaken Fouani ‘Duty Free Application’ to import crude palm oil in the country.
“My motion is in good faith and intended to correct an oversight of this Honorable House,” writes Representative Dopoh to the Speaker of the 54th Legislature.
Representative Dopoh noted that Section 10.1, subsection C, is inconsistent with the intent of granting the incentive to build and operate a palm oil refinery in Liberia.
Section 10.1 of the investment offers investment incentive that gives Fouani Brothers Corporation the luxury of equipment, spare parts, raw materials, RBD Olein, packaging and related materials, and construction materials.
But, the River Gee Lawmaker asserted that said section has the propensity to undermine palm oil production across the country, by giving duty free to Fouani Brothers Corporation to import vegetable oil to Liberia.
It remained unclear whether the deal will win the attention of Senators, several of whom, on condition of anonymity said, they will not support any duty free to Fouani Brothers Corporation.
And some Senators have already frowned on the Fouani Agreement, contending that Section 10.1 ( c) allows them to import refined vegetable oil without paying duties to the Liberian government.
“This puts local vegetable oil producers out of business,” said a ranking member of Senate who prefers anonymity for this story.
Dopoh, now Senator-elect of River Gee County, on Monday bluntly told the House Speaker that the very huge investment in Palm Oil plantation in Liberia by Golden Veroleum of Liberia (GVL), Maryland Oil Palm Plantation (MOPP), Equatorial Palm Oil (EPO), etc. will be destabilized, if Fouani Brothers, “shall be given duty free for the importation of finished oil in Liberia.”
“I pray that your leadership and this Honorable Body take legislative notice of my motion in the best interest of Liberia,” he said.
Prior to Dopoh’s communication, Fouani Brothers Corporation applied for an investment incentive from the Government of Liberia (GoL), to allow it to import Crude Palm Oil (CPO) into Liberia based on duty free in order to refine the CPO in Liberia for domestic consumption and for export.
According to the information, Fouani Brothers Corporation has submitted an investment incentive bill to the Liberian Government for the construction of a crude palm oil refinery in Liberia.
The bill is said to have been prepared since 2021, but signed October 9, 2023, on the eve of the crucial 2023 Presidential and Legislative elections.
According to documents accessed by The ‘Investigative’ INDEPENDENT newspaper, during its investigation into the matter, President George Manneh Weah signed the Fouani Brothers Corporation’s Investment Incentive on September 5, 2023, the last day sitting of the extended session of the Sixth Regular Session of the 54th National Legislature.
It be recalled that President Weah on August 18, 2023, issued a proclamation, extending the Sixth Regular Session of the 54th National Legislature by two weeks beginning August 22, 2023 and ending on September 5, 2023.
The agreement was then sent to the House of Representatives for ratification, and accordingly signed by members of the House of Representatives on September 6, 2023, and after the expiration of the extended sitting—by less than fifteen (15) representatives.
It is now before the Liberian Senate for concurrence.
Credible sources from the House of Representatives informed this paper that members of that august body are threatening to go to court to ensure that the incentive agreement goes through what is required by law.
In the face of some Lawmakers’ reported rage against the deal, other stakeholders within local Palm sector have informed this paper that the Fouani Brothers’ Investment Incentive undercuts existing investments in the palm oil sector that have been gradually moving the country’s agricultural sector forward.
The stakeholders disclosed that there are large agricultural concessions that have invested in the palm sector, including Sime Darby, which has now been taken over by Mano Palm Oil Plantation (MPOP), Golden Veroleum Liberia (GVL), Equatorial Palm, etc., in addition to numerous other smaller palm farms 100% owned by Liberians.
They say that all of these agricultural projects have built or are planning to build refineries in Liberia in order to process crude palm oil from their respective farms.
According to them, by granting incentives to a large company to import CPO into Liberia on the basis of duty free, the government will be undercutting all of the investments in the palm oil sector in Liberia which could undermine jobs creation of the locals.
“Fouani plans to import CPO from outside of Liberia where production costs are much cheaper.
The CPO will then be refined in Liberia and offered for sale locally and abroad at much lower costs than the local plantations can produce. This will force local producers of CPO to sell to Fouani,” they forewarned.
Moreover, they said, this proposed investment incentive will create a monopoly that will force smaller producers out of the crude palm oil business, and cause loss of jobs and investments already made in plantations and refineries, and further cause the workforce to be laid off, thereby increasing the already high rate of unemployment in the country.
They warned against what they characterized as “the passage of the proposal in a lame duck session of the Legislature,” where about fifty percent of the body has been replaced, via the October 10 Polls.
“This session should be focused on the transition of leadership and members, instead of taking actions that will have long-term effects on the national economy and the livelihood of the people at large,” one stakeholder emphasized.
“The proper option available to Fouani is not to try to undercut the palm oil market by getting duty free privilege on imports; instead, they should import CPO just as they do now, and refine it for local sale or export. Fouani should not be given duty free privilege to import CPO and thereby be able to produce refined oil cheaper than what the local producers can do,” one lawmaker who too prefers anonymity added.
