Liberia

More than a year late, the World Bank’s International Finance Corporation has finally submitted its response to an investigation that found evidence of grave human rights violations at the Salala Rubber Corporation (SRC) that it helps fund in Liberia.

SRC and LAC operations on customary land have historically been conducted without the consent of local communities, leading to land grabs, destruction of livelihoods, and various human rights violations.

L’Afrique est-elle à la veille d’un nouveau cycle d’accaparement des terres, non pas pour sécuriser les approvisionnements alimentaires de pays tiers, comme à la fin des années 2000, mais pour produire les crédits-carbone destinés à compenser les émissions des gros pays pollueurs ou celles des entreprises ayant pris pour engagement d’atteindre la neutralité carbone d’ici à 2050 ?

Sinoe County’s Superintendent Peter Wleh Nyensuah is backing an oil palm company’s illegitimate operations against a local community demanding its rights and holding the firm accountable.

This disclosure by Jeety Rubber comes weeks after its founder, business tycoon Upjit Singh Sachdeva, acquired SRC from its parent company, Socfin, a Belgian-French agricultural conglomerate.

The Liberian Investigator has confirmed that the Socfin Group has sold the Salala Rubber plantation to Jeety Rubber following weeks of violent protests at the company’s facilities and years of serious criticism from Green Advocates and international rights groups for reportedly causing significant harm to local communities, including land grabbing, environmental degradation, and human rights abuses.

The CSSF has put an end to a year-long dispute between small shareholders and Socfin's main shareholders, the Fabri family and French billionaire Vincent Bolloré: the 689,337 shares they not control between them will be bought back at €32.50 per share. This will take Socfin off the stock market at a time when it is the target of fierce criticism from a major Norwegian pension fund. It was also the end of an era for the Luxembourg Stock Exchange.

La CSSF a mis fin à un an de «différends» entre de petits actionnaires et les principaux actionnaires de la Socfin, les Fabri et le milliardaire français Vincent Bolloré: les 689.337 actions qui leur manquent seront rachetées à 32,5 euros l’action. De quoi retirer la Socfin de la cotation au moment où elle est la cible de critiques virulentes du fonds de pension norvégien. La fin d’une époque, aussi, pour la Bourse de Luxembourg.

Golden Veroleum Liberia is not being held accountable for defying a ruling issued six years ago by the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil against the company for land grabbing.

Twenty organisations and allies of communities affected by the Socfin group’s oil palm and rubber plantations express their dissatisfaction with the Norges Bank Investment Management's decision not to divest from Bolloré SE and Compagnie de l’Odet SE

Two prominent union leaders who were not present when the Salala Rubber Corporation buildings were set on fire have been jailed as retaliation for their efforts to negotiate a collective bargaining agreement for the plantation’s contract workers.

Longstanding grievances of workers at the Salala Rubber Coporation came to a head on 27 June 2024 when a violent protest broke out, leading to the destruction of housing and administration facilities. The plantation is now closed until further notice.