Liberia: ALCC Urges Boakai to Create National Equipment Pool for Liberian Contractors

What the report says

AllAfrica, carrying a report from The Liberian Investigator, reported on 22 July 2026 that the Association of Liberian Construction Contractors (ALCC) has asked President Joseph Nyuma Boakai to help establish a national pool of heavy construction equipment for Liberian-owned firms. The appeal was made at ALCC’s 2026 General Assembly at Paynesville Town Hall and presented to Joe Mulbah, the President’s Infrastructure Development Advisor.

According to the report, ALCC Board Chairman Christoph C. Bull said local contractors often have the expertise to carry out major public works but are blocked from larger tenders because they cannot meet equipment-capacity requirements. He cited machinery such as graders, loaders, excavators, dump trucks and compactors as essential but too costly for many Liberian firms. ALCC argues that this gap leaves foreign companies better positioned to win government-funded infrastructure contracts.

The association is proposing a government-backed, rent-to-own model rather than a donation. Under the plan, equipment would be placed in a centralized pool managed by ALCC; contractors that win projects would rent the machines and include those costs in their bids. Rental payments would then be used to reimburse the government until its investment is recovered, after which ownership would pass to ALCC for continued industry use. Mulbah reportedly indicated that the government was willing to consider the idea.

ALCC also asked for budgetary support for the Gateway Vocational Training Center, a construction-focused TVET institution linked to local professional bodies and previously supported by German development partners. The association said equipment access and skills training are both needed if more of Liberia’s infrastructure spending is to benefit domestic firms and workers.