GUINEA 2019

DOING BUSINESS IN AFRICA

Potential for positive economic outcomes

Infrastructure, mining, agriculture, trade, housing, urban development and more – 60 years after its independence, guided by an ambitious development plan, Guinea is putting its potential into play across all key sectors of its economy.

This sends a positive message to investors, while also generating resources and jobs.

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8 OUTLOOK Mining and services back on track

14 BUSINESS ENVIRONMENT Business climate change

20 INTERNATIONAL All-round diplomacy

24 FOREIGN TRADE Port traffic boosted by mining

30 PORTS The Port of Conakry, a West African giant in the making

32 EXTRACTIVE INDUSTRIES Bauxite spearheading mining

The Boké Mining Company leaves nothing to chance

38 ENERGY Guinea’s hydroelectric dreams come true

46 BANKING AND FINANCIAL SERVICES Diversification bodes well for the future

48 ICT Guinea 2.0 Mentoring young entrepreneurs

52 REAL ESTATE AND CONSTRUCTION Build 120,000 homes

56 ENTREPRENEURSHIP Incubators: bringing an idea to life

60 AGRICULTURE AND AGRIBUSINESS Agriculture is a true engine of growth

66 EDUCATION Teachers seeking schools

68 HEALTH Strengthening the health system

70 YOUR TRIP Choosing your hotel in Conakry Excursion

72 USEFUL INFORMATION

ECONOMY AND BUSINESS ENVIRONMENT

SERVICES

INFRASTRUCTURE

SOCIETY

CONTENTS

26 TRANSPORT Energy and logistics pick up the pace

42 HOSPITALITY Conakry catches up

SMB

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The Autonomous Port of Conakry

is undergoing unprecedented

expansion.

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8.5%8.5%

Inflation rate 

Population12.4 million

Average age17.3 years

Population growth rate2.5%

Area245,857 km2

Life expectancy 61 years

Birth rate38.7 / 1,000people

Mortality rate10.6 / 1,000

Child mortality rate76.4 / 1,000live births

Gross reproduction rate 2.4

Dakar1h25

Abidjan1h50

Casablanca3h35

Paris8h30

Addis-Ababa9 hours

$594 million$594 million

General indicators

Investment/business indicators

Business environment indicators Increasingly strong growth

Trade still in pole position (PIB en 2016)

Macroeconomic indicators (%)

Air links from Conakry

Guinea enjoys a strategic geographical position in the heart of ECOWAS and shares 3,400 km of borders with Côte d'Ivoire, Guinea-Bissau, Liberia, Mali, Senegal and Sierra Leone. With its 320 km long coastline, the country is a potential maritime outlet for its landlocked neighbours.

Location Savanes

Boké Labé

KankanKindia

MamouFaranah

Nzérékoré

Fertility rate4.8 childrenper woman of childbearing age

Foreign exchange reserves

2016

2020(est.)

6.7%6.7%

Real growth

$1.341 billion$1.341 billion

Nominal GDP 

$8.48billion

$8.48billion

GDP/capital

$683,50$683,50

Non-mining sector revenues8,614.6 billion Guinean francs

8,793 companies founded in 2017

at the Investment Single Window, against 3,037 in 2014

€21.7 billionPledges registered by Guinea

to finance its National Economic & Social Development Plan

(PNDES)

Foreign direct investment:

$1,668,8 millionalmost twice as much as in the previous four years

2016 Investment rate: 25.2% of GDP

Almost four times more than

the year before

Mining sector revenues2,320 billion Guinean francs

+25 Places in the “Doing Business” rankings

between 2013 and 2018

3.5/6The World Bank's CPIA economic management

score for Guinea in 2016, up from 2.3 five

years earlier

72 hoursThe time it takes

to set up a company

20133.9%

20143.7%

20153.5%

19%

13%

10%

9%8%

8%

7%

7%

5%4%

4% 1%2%3%

20197.3%*

20207.7%*

29 daysThe time it takes to get a building

permit

* According to Guinean government estimates taking

into account the PNDES priority projects

Trade Extractive industries Public administration AgricultureLivestock, hunting, fishing, fish farming, forestry Market servicesManufactured goods Taxes Construction TransportNon-market services Other Food products Electricity, gas, water

SOUR

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AL, G

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: PND

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GUINEA IN NUMBERS

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8.5%8.5%

Inflation rate 

Population12.4 million

Average age17.3 years

Population growth rate2.5%

Area245,857 km2

Life expectancy 61 years

Birth rate38.7 / 1,000people

Mortality rate10.6 / 1,000

Child mortality rate76.4 / 1,000live births

Gross reproduction rate 2.4

Dakar1h25

Abidjan1h50

Casablanca3h35

Paris8h30

Addis-Ababa9 hours

$594 million$594 million

General indicators

Investment/business indicators

Business environment indicators Increasingly strong growth

Trade still in pole position (PIB en 2016)

Macroeconomic indicators (%)

Air links from Conakry

Guinea enjoys a strategic geographical position in the heart of ECOWAS and shares 3,400 km of borders with Côte d'Ivoire, Guinea-Bissau, Liberia, Mali, Senegal and Sierra Leone. With its 320 km long coastline, the country is a potential maritime outlet for its landlocked neighbours.

Location Savanes

Boké Labé

KankanKindia

MamouFaranah

Nzérékoré

Fertility rate4.8 childrenper woman of childbearing age

Foreign exchange reserves

2016

2020(est.)

6.7%6.7%

Real growth

$1.341 billion$1.341 billion

Nominal GDP 

$8.48billion

$8.48billion

GDP/capital

$683,50$683,50

Non-mining sector revenues8,614.6 billion Guinean francs

8,793 companies founded in 2017

at the Investment Single Window, against 3,037 in 2014

€21.7 billionPledges registered by Guinea

to finance its National Economic & Social Development Plan

(PNDES)

Foreign direct investment:

$1,668,8 millionalmost twice as much as in the previous four years

2016 Investment rate: 25.2% of GDP

Almost four times more than

the year before

Mining sector revenues2,320 billion Guinean francs

+25 Places in the “Doing Business” rankings

between 2013 and 2018

3.5/6The World Bank's CPIA economic management

score for Guinea in 2016, up from 2.3 five

years earlier

72 hoursThe time it takes

to set up a company

20133.9%

20143.7%

20153.5%

19%

13%

10%

9%8%

8%

7%

7%

5%4%

4% 1%2%3%

20197.3%*

20207.7%*

29 daysThe time it takes to get a building

permit

* According to Guinean government estimates taking

into account the PNDES priority projects

Trade Extractive industries Public administration AgricultureLivestock, hunting, fishing, fish farming, forestry Market servicesManufactured goods Taxes Construction TransportNon-market services Other Food products Electricity, gas, water

SOUR

CE: M

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TRY

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SOUR

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F

SOUR

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TATIS

TICS

ANNU

AL, G

UINE

A

SOUR

CE: W

ORLD

BAN

K, IM

F

SOUR

CES 

: PND

ES, A

PIP,

BAN

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GUIN

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ECONOMY AND BUSINESS ENVIRONMENT

Mining and services back on trackConfronted with a serious health crisis and a decline in the cost of raw materials, Guinea has proved its resilience. Its recovery will consolidate the investments planned under the National Economic and Social Development Plan.

Since 2010, the Guinean government has strived to restore normality to the national political context while

stabilising the macroeconomic environment, in close cooperation with the IMF. Before reaping the benefits of its efforts, the country had to face the consequences of the Ebola epidemic – officially over in the country by June 2016, according to the WHO – and then the decline in mineral prices on the world market. By 2016, growth was at 6.6%. It even reached 6.7% the following year, well above the sub-Saharan average. This rebound can be linked to the stronger-than-expected increase in mining production, due to the start-up of new projects, better agricultural yields and improved electricity production. Inflation, which is still above sub-regional norms (at just over 8%), has nevertheless been dropping since 2010 and contained thanks to the relative stability of the exchange rate and a prudent monetary

policy. According to the Guinean govern-ment, it fell to 6.5% in 2017 and is estimated to have fallen to 4.8 % in 2018.

Partners came to the partyThe National Economic and Social Development Plan 2016-2020 (PNDES), a tool for implementing the government’s Vision 2040, will intensify this momentum. Based on four pillars – governance, economic transformation, human capital develop-ment and sustainable resource management – it advocates stepping up investment in infrastructure, as well as in the productive

OUTLOOK

Growth up to 6.6% by

2016.

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economy. When Guinea’s technical and financial partners met in Paris in November 2017, they showed their support for this pro-gramme by pledging a total of $21.7 billion (€18.4 billion). Conakry can also count on the support of China, with whom it signed a $20 billion 20-year investment agreement in September, again for the strengthening of its infrastructure development (see inter-view with the Minister of Planning, p. 12). In 2017, Guinea signed a second Extended Credit Facility (ECF) programme with the IMF, the first one having been signed in 2012. It thus has non-concessional loans of

$650 million per year, in addition to other financing already identified in the 2017-2020 three-year plan.

Tertiary sector leads the wayAccounting for 18% of GDP in 2016, the pri-mary sector employs the largest number of Guinean people, particularly in agriculture. While growth was moderate in 2016 (+3.1%), it is expected to reach 4% per year by 2020. Despite being the lowest on average, this sector’s contribution to the national eco-nomy is the most stable. The secondary sector, which contributed 28% of GDP in 2016, is

18%Primary sector

contribution to GDP.

➙

Katougouma mineral port,

Boké mining company.

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ECONOMY AND BUSINESS ENVIRONMENTOUTLOOK

largely dominated by the extractive sector (13% of GDP), led by bauxite and gold, which makes up nearly 80% of the value of Guinean exports. Its strong growth will continue and, after an initial leap of 16.1% in 2016, is expected to stabilise at 10% per year until 2020.Building and public works, as well as the elec-tricity sector, have also played their part in this performance. The tertiary sector alone accounts for almost half of GDP, driven mainly by trade activities and market services. It is experiencing relatively moderate growth (+3.1% in 2016), which should rise to 5% per year by 2020.

Flourishing FDI Guinea is enjoying surging interest in its economy, demonstrated by a tripling of the investment rate between 2015 and 2016, going from 7.3% to 25.2% of GDP. This trend is due to the rebound in Foreign Direct Investment (FDI), which rose over the same period from 3% to 18.8% of GDP, mainly due to the star-ting up of major bauxite mining projects. The trend is expected to continue at around 13% in the coming years, while diversifying – especially in infrastructure projects – with significant input from the private sector in the implementation of PNDES projects. Apart from mining, this FDI flows into banking, insurance and telephony, with agriculture being the only sector not getting a big enough

share. The current account deficit, which is rising due to strong inflows of capital goods, is expected to continue to widen.

More efficient budget managementSince 2010, there has been strict adherence to an ambitious reform agenda, leading to a streamlining of public finances, and streng-thened and more transparent monetary and fiscal management and governance, with the support of the IMF and the World Bank. New laws have been adopted to better regulate certain sectors of the economy (investments, public-private partnerships, mining, etc.), including an anti-corruption law, and jus-tice system reforms are still ongoing. A new structural reform plan is part of the second programme negotiated with the IMF at the end of 2017. Several global rankings have praised and recognised this progress in political and economic governance.

Spending down, revenues upHaving reduced current expenditure, post-poned certain infrastructure projects and aligned public expenditure with available non-inflationary financing, the country has managed to reduce its budget deficit, which had reached -16.7% GDP in 2011. It also benefits from an increase in government reve-nues, which rose from 7,976 billion Guinean

2016

Inflation contained and deficit reduced

2015

Inflation Budget balance (% of GDP) Current account (% of GDP)

8.2

-8.9

-12.9-6

-3.4-1.8-1.5

-1.8 -1.4

8.1

6.54.5

2017 2018

The investment rate more than

tripled from 2015 to 2016.

Agriculture is still the sector that employs

the biggest number of Guinean people.

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017

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The cost of the PNDES is estimated at $14.6 billion, of which 49.3% and 38.2% are for the second and third pillars. The State is contributing 30% through the national budget, while private financing (via partnerships with the public) is expected to contribute 38.2%. The PNDES has 675 projects and programmes, but a list of the 52 most mature, known as “flagship projects”, has been established. There are 16 in infrastructure, 11 in the environment, eight in education and six in the energy sector. Forty-three are to be carried out as public projects, six through public-private partnerships and three by private stakeholders.

All these projects were presented at the consultative group meeting held in Paris on 16 and 17 November 2017. At this time, pledges totalling $21.7 billion were made by Guinea’s technical and financial partners. The Ministry of Planning and International Cooperation is in charge of monitoring the implementation of the PNDES. The Ministry is currently adopting a draft decree on the establishment, allocation, organisation and operation of the institutional monitoring and evaluation system of the PNDES implementation.

The 2016-2020 National Economic and Social Development Plan (PNDES) follows the third Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper (PRSP), which expired in 2015. Designed to make Vision2040 operational, it lays the foundations for the structural transformation of the country’s economy and promotes inclusive growth capable of substantially improving the daily lives of the Guinean people. This plan is based on the four major pillars that support Guinean society. In this sense, it is building a unifying framework for all current sectoral strategies, which it coordinates: the promotion

of good governance aims at consolidating the rule of law, democracy, security and social cohesion, and making public action effective; the sustainable and inclusive transformation of the economy relies mainly on mineral resources to develop agriculture, diversify industry and invest in infrastructure; the development of human potential must be made possible through better access to health, education and training, and through greater empowerment of women; sustainable management of natural capital aims to improve resource protection and better prepare the country for natural disasters. n

How Guinea’s economy will change

52 flagship projects in the pipeline

$21.7 billion pledged

francs in 2012 to 11,391 billion in 2016 (from €855 million to €1.142 billion).However, with a revenue share of 14.8% of GDP in 2016 (10.6% in 2010), Guinea’s performance remains below that of most of its neighbours. Their growth potential, estimated at between 3% and 5%, remains high, particularly in mining, and reforms are being implemented to improve revenue recovery and broaden the tax base. The PNDES, two thirds of which is financed by external funds and through public-private partnerships, provides for public spending increasing by 14% per year over the 2016-2020 period. Capital expenditure is expected to increase from 36% of the total government budget in 2016 to 48% in 2020, while the share of current expenditure (wages in particular) will continue to fall.

Debt policySince the completion point of the Heavily Indebted Poor Countries (HIPC) Initiative was reached in 2012, Guinea’s public debt, estimated at 40.9% at the end of 2016, has become one of the lowest in the sub-region. The launch of the PNDES flagship projects will lead to an increase in external debt, although a significant part of it will consist of concessional or semi-concessional loans. It could also be offset by the planned reduction in domestic debt, which must be cleared to give a boost to local SMEs. n

12 \

INTERVIEW

What is the government’s roadmap for development?When we presented the PNDES to our partners in November in Paris, we also presented the National Investment Programme, focusing on 52 structuring projects. This document constitutes our roadmap for the next three years, whether it concerns the funds obtained to implement the PNDES, with $21.7 billion [€18.4 billion] in commitments, or those from the agreement signed with China in September i.e. $20 billion over twenty years. Focusing investment on such a programme is new to Guinea. Previously, it was demand that guided our investment.

For all development financing, we try to standardise a process of planning, programming, budgeting, monitoring and evaluation. The partners to whom we presented our strategy subscribe to this process.

Did their support live up to your expectations?It was very strong. The PNDES is a real opportunity for our country. From the beginning, we presented a concept note to the partners, telling them what we expected from them, while inviting them to share their comments. This facilitated their coming on board. We needed $14 billion and we got $21.7 billion,

which means we were able to convince them of the quality of the Plan, the relevance of our objectives and the sincerity of our commitment. We’re facing our governance problems head on, in order to generate enough domestic resources to finance our development.

Guinea’s administrative capacity is often seen as an obstacle to achieving development objectives. How did you overcome this?We know that insufficient capacity can be a handicap in achieving our goals. To overcome this, we took the problem into account by creating a national capacity-building programme.

We are going to provide transversal solutions at several levels: training, recruitment, civil service upgrades, etc. The results have been limited until now because previous regimes took a sectoral and piecemeal approach, including within the framework of the plans established with the World Bank, whereas ours is transversal.

The PNDES was prepared in record time. Why?Guinea has undergone long periods of instability with a military regime, a transition and then a severe Ebola crisis. So we had to grab the bull by the horns, take stock of the country, and develop our strategy. We could

“Our priority targets are infrastructure and energy.”KANNY DIALLO, Minister of Planning

and Economic development

An economics and finance graduate of the American University of Washington DC and the University of Paris X-Nanterre, KANNY DIALLO is a development specialist. After beginning her career at the IMF in 1981, she joined the AfDB five years later and remained there until she was appointed to head the Ministry of Planning and International Cooperation in 2016.

ECONOMY AND BUSINESS ENVIRONMENTOUTLOOK

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have taken two years to do this work, but the urgency of the situation, compounded by falling commodity prices, pushed us to get it done in six months. We did not want to put the whole focus onto mining, as it’s too uncertain, so we refocused our objectives on the agricultural and rural sector, in order to have a more controlled approach to financing our development.

Which part of the PNDES is most urgent?Everything is urgent, but given our limits in terms of capacity and financial arrangements, we have defined priority

areas: infrastructure, rural development, the social field and energy. These can, of course, include transversal projects. The first project signed in 2018, with the African Development Bank [AfDB], for about $42 million, concerns our electricity interconnection with Mali. In 2017, three major infrastructure projects were signed for the building of roads to Sierra Leone, Côte d’Ivoire and Mali in order to open up an entire production area, particularly mining. Between 2016 and 2017, we recorded almost $1 billion in commitments for eighteen [public]

projects funded and signed. Some are underway.

What can you tell us about the agreement with China, which received a mixed reaction?I don’t know why this caused so much misunderstanding and suspicion. Guinea has always worked with China and is the first African country to have recognised it. The framework agreement consists of Beijing making $20 billion available to Guinea, over a period of almost twenty years. Each year, we will meet around a table to negotiate

projects worth $1 to $2 billion. This will be based on two aspects: we will provide China with mining concessions on the one hand and China will offer us financial resources on the other. This year, for example, we are negotiating four urban road and sanitation projects for about $200 million, as well as a major road from Coyah to Mamou-Dabola for about $300 million. There is also talk of one university, out of the planned four, that will cost about $200 million and, lastly, roads in Upper Guinea for about $250 million. It is a clear and transparent approach. n

“We refocused our objectives on the agricultural and rural sector, in order to have a more controlled approach to financing our development.”

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ECONOMY AND BUSINESS ENVIRONMENT

BUSINESS CLIMATE

Business climate changeBetween 2013 and 2018, Guinea moved up 25 places in the World Bank’s “Doing Business” ranking. And it’s not staying put: the country’s voluntary policy of improving the environment for investors continues in its National Economic and Social Development Plan.

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SSince 2010, the government has worked hard to improve Guinea’s busi-ness climate and most of the country’s

key economic governance indicators are improving. The World Bank welcomed this progress by moving the country up a total of 25 places in its “Doing Business” ranking since 2013; it shot up 10 places between 2017 and 2018 alone, positioning it 153rd out of the 190 countries ranked.

Setting up a business is easyGuinea’s significant progress is due, in par-ticular, to the simplification of incorporating a business (72 hours, with lower minimum capital requirements), reduced taxes on pro-perty transfers and notary fees, and a smoo-ther granting of building permits (29 days). New legislation by the Organisation for the Harmonisation of Business Law in Africa (OHADA) in 2014 also strengthened investor protection.

Single Window simplicityThe institutional framework has been strengthened to promote and stimulate private sector development: the restructu-red Private Investment Promotion Agency (APIP) now houses a Single Window for investors (see pages 18-19) providing a one-stop shop for informing, advising and accompanying domestic and internatio-nal entrepreneurs. The mining sector has its own Single Window, set up in 2016 to process the digitised cadastre and mining licences. During the course of 2018, the land transaction department will also acquire its own Single Window. Contributing to the streamlining of business formation, a more attractive investment code was promulgated in 2015. That of the mining sector was passed in 2011, following Guinea’s joining the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI). A new

PPPs focus on energy

Businesses set up at the investor Single Window

Trade is booming(Number of companies founded by sector, 2014-2017)

Energy39%

Ports and airports23%

20143,032

20154,911

20168,814

20178,793

Water16%

Roads14%

Telecom 3%

Sanitation 3%

(Share of projects per sector)

Autres 2%

TOTAL25,537

48.81%

21.27%

13.18% 3.65%2.92%2.78%2.64%1.82%1.59%0.82%0.15%

TradeServicesBuilding & Public WorksTransport & Logistics

Communication/ICTAgriculture/livestock/fisheriesEnergy & MiningIndustry

Tourism, hospitality, artEducation, healthFinancial institutions

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petroleum code is also being ratified, as well as one governing livestock farming and products.

A law for partnershipsGuinea, with the support of the International Finance Corporation (IFC), adopted a new fra-mework law for public-private partnerships in July 2017. This simplifies the signing of this type of contract and allows for the establishment of institutions that will promote them. The law provides for the setting up of a committee in charge of defining a policy dedicated to PPPs as well as a steering committee within the Ministry of Economy and Finance. The sectoral ministries are designated as contrac-ting authorities and, accordingly, they draft contracts with the private sector. The Ministry of the Economy, for its part, implements public commitments and controls the use of funds through the Public Procurement Regulatory Authority (ARMP) and the General Director of Administration and Control of Major Projects and Public Procurement (ACGPMP).

Forging ahead with reforms!A portfolio of potential projects, mainly in the fields of energy, transport and water, has been constituted. It was determined on the basis of six criteria: the level of public sector priority, the solidity of the expected revenues, the ease of implementation, the expected economic impact, and the level of prepa-ration and attractiveness for private inves-tors. At the end of 2017, the President of the Republic also launched the Guinean Private Sector Consultation Platform to strengthen dialogue between the private and public sectors. There are several priority actions to be pursued within the framework of the PNDES, through private sector development and investment promotion strategies, such as improving access to financial services, simplifying the tax system (in particular the SME/SMI system) and procedures for construction, property transfer and access to water and electricity. Progress must also be made in formalising the Guinean private sector and strengthening its capacities. n

6 The number of criteria

used to evaluate potential projects.

➙

The time it takes to grant a building permit was

reduced to 29 days. Here, the Dolphine Residence, in

the Camayenne district.

In 2017 the country adopted a new framework law on public-private partnerships.

ECONOMY AND BUSINESS ENVIRONMENT BUSINESS CLIMATE

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Better governanceIn 2012, the IMF had granted Guinea an extended credit facility for the first time, which it renewed in 2017. In so doing, the international institution also provided technical assistance to the authorities in modernising Guinea’s tax system, reforming the foreign exchange market, central bank liquidity management, access to credit for the private sector and strengthening national statistical capacities.

More transparencyIn parallel with the ongoing Programme of State Reform and Modernisation of the Administration (PREMA), a law has been in place since 2017 to strengthen corruption prevention and sanctions. An audit was carried out between 2014 and 2016 to identify bad practices in terms of investment expenditure in infrastructure (roads, energy, etc.), which encouraged the authorities to speed up the strengthening of procedures for public procurement. The publication of an annual review of public enterprises of an administrative nature by the Ministry of Budget along with the quarterly publication of budget execution also testifies to this desire for transparency and good governance.

A credible justice systemIn the same vein, a National Justice Reform Policy (PNRJ, 2014-2024) was launched following the general meetings of the sector organised in 2011, in order to make the institution more accessible to citizens and give credibility to the system. The Court of Auditors, set up three years ago, presented its first report in January, covering the year 2016. In addition, several projects aim to modernise commercial law and legal action, such as simplifying procedures and promoting alternative dispute resolution methods: conciliation, mediation, arbitration.

Progress applauded around the worldGuinea’s progress in “economic management” was recognised by the World Bank in its Country Policy and Institutional Assessment (CPIA) ranking: between 2010 and 2016, it rose from 2.3 to 3.5 out of 6, exceeding the sub-Saharan African average (3.2). In the World Economic Forum’s Global Competitiveness Report, Guinea moved up 21 places between 2015 and 2017, to reach 119th place. In 2017 the World Bank Group’s Investment Competitiveness Forum placed Guinea among the top five reformers in attracting foreign direct investment (FDI), which has indeed increased. n

A more competitive Guinea from every point of view (World Economic Forum, from 0-6)

3.54.3

2.2

2.9

4

4.4

2.43

2.82.8 3.43.4

3.53.54.14.1

1.8

2.4

3.33.3

3.53.5

2.72.74.74.7

* 4 basic requirements

Institutions*

Macroeconomic environment*

Infrastructure*

Health and primary education*

Financial market development

Goods market e ciency

Higher education and training

Labour market e ciency

Technological readiness

2015 - 2016 2017 - 2018

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INTERVIEW

ECONOMY AND BUSINESS ENVIRONMENTBUSINESS CLIMATE

Which reforms set Guinea on the road to being a country to invest in?For several years, the country has been gaining momentum in the improvement of its business climate, galvanised by the policy of the President of the Republic and his Prime Minister. The Prime Minister meets monthly with the heads of ministerial departments to implement and monitor reforms. These efforts have had a positive impact on perception indexes, which have all improved. Since last year, the government has recorded 22 notable reforms out of seven of the ten indicators in the World Bank’s “Doing Business” ranking.

Where has the most remarkable progress been made?The progress made in obtaining building permits and setting up businesses has been particularly important. Guinea climbed 89 places on the first criterion and ranks 75th in the world for this indicator. This progress was achieved by reducing the application processing time from 69 to 28 days, facilitating the application of the 2015 Construction and Housing Code by adopting five implementing texts and improving the accessibility of information, thanks to the updating of several websites: the National Council of Architects of Guinea, the National

Association of Building and Civil Engineers and the Land Conservation Office.

Which measures most improved the procedure for starting a business? The country has climbed eight places in this regard. To reduce the administrative procedures within the Private Investment Promotion Agency’s [APIP] Single Window for investors, all the various application forms were reduced to a single document, and an online tool

was introduced to check that the new company’s name is not already in use and offer a choice of different models. Access to computerisation within the Single Window has also been positive, as has the launch of the National Business Registration System in the Republic of Guinea (Synergui). This platform puts an end to the manual system, the single physical office and the paper trail. Now there’s a single electronic counter bringing together all the administrative steps

“The country’s improvement is gaining momentum”GABRIEL CURTIS, Minister of Investments

and Public-Private Partnerships

GABRIEL CURTIS has headed up the Private Investment Promotion Agency since 2014 and also acts as the Permanent Secretariat of the Presidential Council for Investment and Public-Private Partnerships. As such, the former business banker is responsible for designing and implementing investment promotion policy and improving the business climate.

Lower fees, simplified procedures, better informed investors... Setting up a business has never gone so smoothly.

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required to set up a company.The reduction of costs – through the adoption of a decree allowing the value of a share to be freely set for a limited liability company, whereas in the past 100,000 GNF [nearly €9] had to be paid – has also been beneficial.

What are the most urgent reforms still to come? We have to move ahead with the establishment of a commercial court in Conakry, get the Land, Construction and Housing Single Window

up and running, as well the one for Foreign Trade. And the new investment code must be implemented effectively.

How does APIP practically support private investors, be they Guinean or non-Guinean, in their efforts?Investor monitoring is one of the agency’s priorities. It facilitates starting a business by minimising costs and procedures, but also by providing better information, thanks to the launch of the investment portal

which is a website dedicated to local and foreign investments that centralises information, connects public and private companies, enables the registration of companies in the APIP registry and promotes public and private projects. This site presents Guinea as a whole through sections that highlight the reasons to invest. It was produced in collaboration with our regional offices in key counties. The “live chat” also allows us to interact with visitors and direct them to our

services. The Business Assistance Department is dedicated to helping entrepreneurs access financing and markets. It offers a service to Guineans living abroad, which serves as a point of support for the diaspora wishing to invest in the country. It helps to complete formalities, provides information and presents business opportunities. And in the coming months, through the Synergui platform, Guineans from abroad will be able to create online businesses from their host countries. n

Computerisation of the APIP Single Window

greatly simplified procedures.

20 \

ECONOMY AND BUSINESS ENVIRONMENT

INTERNATIONAL

All-round diplomacyAlpha Condé has handed over the reins of the African Union to his Rwandan counterpart, but Guinea is still a driving force for strengthening the institution’s effectiveness and independence, consolidating peace and promoting better economic integration of the continent.

The election of Alpha Condé, winner of the presidential run-off on 7 November 2010 and inaugurated on 21 December

of the same year, signalled the first act of Guinean diplomacy. Following this return to constitutionality the African Union (AU) reinstated Guinea on 9 December, having suspended it for two years after the military coup in December 2008. And so the historic opponent became the first democratically elected president since independence in 1958.

A year at the head of the AUSince then, Guinea has put its diplomatic expertise at the service of peace-building and economic integration. This was particularly true when Alpha Condé was at the head of the African Union from January 2017 to January 2018. The Head of State had been very involved in resolving the crises in Guinea-Bissau and The Gambia, mediating under the auspices of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS). It was under his presidency that Morocco rejoined the AU – without the tensions leading to the unrest predicted by many observers – and that the AU-European Union (EU) summit was successfully held in November 2017 in Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire.

Advocating for greater effectivenessFrom a methodological point of view, Alpha Condé stressed the need to build a more effective Union by reducing the number of

subjects discussed at summits so that they last only a day and not two thereby also ensuring that Heads of State participate without using a busy schedule as an excuse to send repre-sentatives in their place. He would have liked to put an end to the fighting in the Central African Republic, support the organisation of elections in the Democratic Republic of Congo and even help the Libyan parties in conflict to find a consensus. These tasks are now the responsibility of Paul Kagame, who replaced him, and whom Alpha Condé, a pan-Africanist from the start, supports. The Rwandan president will most notably lead the institutional reform which aims to intro-duce a 0.2% tax (already applied in several countries) on a list of imported goods in order to finance the AU and make it independent from this point of view.

Hand in hand with EuropeAfter the military coup in December 2008, the EU supported Guinea in its process of political transition and return to consti-tutional order. Since 2010, Conakry has strengthened its ties with Brussels, notably through the eleventh European Development Fund (EDF), a traditional vector of coope-ration between the two stakeholders, which amounted to €244 million. In particular, the EU supports Guinea in three main sec-tors through the EDF National Indicative Programme (2014-2020):• the consolidation of the rule of law and the

building of an efficient administration

€244mThe amount of the 11th European Development Fund granted to Guinea

➙

President Condé was very involved in The

Gambia and Guinea-Bissau.

/ 21

The Head of State during a press conference at the 5th UA-EU Summit in Abidjan on 20 November 2017.

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22 \

• the development of sanitation infras-tructure and services

• improving access to quality essential care and health system governance.

Outward-looking economic diplomacyRelations between Guinea and France were also strengthened during the former President François Hollande’s visit to Conakry in 2014, then during Alpha Condé’s visit to Paris in 2017. Guinean diplomacy has also led to two IMF Extended Credit Facilities (ECFs) signed in 2012 and 2017, as well as a colossal investment agreement of $20 billion (€16.8 billion) over 20 years concluded with China, which forms part of the global strategic coo-peration launched at the end of 2016 during Alpha Condé’s trip to China. Following the Guinean President’s visit to Japan in June 2017, the Japan International Cooperation

Agency (JICA) announced the opening of an office in Conakry and its participation in the implementation of the National Economic and Social Development Plan (PNDES, 2016-2020). A few months later, in November, it collected nearly $21.7 billion in pledges from Guinea’s technical and financial partners.

Strengthened administrative capacityIn addition to the huge investments planned, the PNDES also aims to promote Guinea’s growth, limit the risks associated with an unstable region and strengthen its resilience, by taking advantage of its membership of sub-regional groups (AU, ECOWAS, and UEMOA, etc.). As such, it provides for the strengthen-ing of the capacities of the Ministries of Foreign Affairs, International Cooperation and Regional Integration, as well as those of Guinean organisations abroad. n

ECONOMY AND BUSINESS ENVIRONMENTINTERNATIONAL

Alpha Condé hands over the reins of the AU to Paul

Kagame in Addis Ababa on 28 January 2018.

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A TRADE HUBGuinea, which shares borders with six countries, is not yet able to take full advantage of this location from a commercial point of view. The roads under construction will eventually allow it to make the most of cross border trading, bolstered by the application of the ECOWAS common external tariff.

EXCEPTIONAL NATURAL RESOURCES

Slowly but surely Guinea is shaking off its decades old “geological scandal” reputation, acquired because

of the non-exploitation of its mineral resources. The increasingly attractive business environment will no doubt lead investors to discover that there are other “scandals” to be stopped – in agriculture, tourism and industry, where abundant local natural wealth is just waiting to be developed.

A CLEAR DEVELOPMENT PLAN

A National Economic and Social Development Plan (PNDES) has been established to serve as a road map for the government and its public and private partners. Supported by several countries (Europe, China, and Japan, etc.) and international institutions (World Bank, African Development Bank, etc.), it has received $21.7 billion in pledges.

INFRASTRUCTURE IN ALL SECTORS

Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) has risen sharply in recent years. It has mainly gone into the mining sector over the past three

years, but this is set to change with the State’s ramping up of major infrastructure projects which it is carrying out with its private and public partners

to give agriculture and industry the wherewithal to attract FDI. The significant energy deficit that holds back company and industry performance might soon be just a bad memory, as Guinea builds its hydroelectric power stations.

HEALTHY BUSINESS ENVIRONMENT

With a determination and results hailed throughout the world, Guinea is improving the regulatory framework for business without leaving a single sector behind: legislative reforms, currency control, specialist Single Windows, streamlined company

incorporation procedures and more. Everything has been done to make sure that investments flow towards the productive economy and ensure that the private sector becomes the country’s real engine of development.

After years of political crises and a devastating Ebola epidemic, the country is getting back on track, methodically creating the conditions necessary

for the development of its mining, agricultural and tourism potential.

5 reasons to invest in Guinea

24 \

ECONOMY AND BUSINESS ENVIRONMENT

FOREIGN TRADE

Port traffic boosted by miningGuinea benefits from dynamic trade between exports of its mineral resources to Europe, Asia and the Middle East and imports of transport equipment and food products.

Guinea’s exports have risen sharply over the past two years, boosted by a healthy mining sector, particularly

bauxite (48.2% of export value in 2016), which attracted several billion dollars in investment. Gold (30.9% of exports in 2016) also contributed to this increase in exports, estimated at 17% between 2014 and 2018. Almost 80% of Guinea’s external revenue thus comes from its mineral resources. In the nomenclature of the National Statistics Institute (NSI), mineral “products”, which represented 424 billion GNF (€44.6 million) in 2011, rose to 4,327 billion in 2014 and 16,740 billion in 2016.Three areas were fairly represented in 2016 as Guinea’s export destinations for its mining industry products: Europe – declining, Asia and the Middle East – rising sharply. Year after year, vegetable products represent a low and uncertain value of Guinean exports, with 71 billion GNF in 2013, 291 billion in 2015 and 135 billion the following year.

Top imports - equipment and foodIn terms of imports, transport equipment skyrocketed in 2016, mainly due to the many infrastructure projects underway. Food industry purchases also increased but to a much lesser degree. Guinea continues to import rice (555,000 tons in 2016), twice as much as six years ago, as well as sugar (140,700 tons) and milk (31,400 tons), via the Autonomous Port of Conakry. Flour imports have dropped off, probably due to an increase in production by Guinea’s own f lour mills (see report p. 64-65).On the other hand, the value of imported plant and vegetable produce has increased fivefold in six years according to the NSI, reaching 4,440 billion GNF in 2016, while that of animal products has increased four-fold, reaching 215 billion GNF in 2016. Asian countries, led by China, which is already one of Guinea’s main import partners, were Guinea’s leading suppliers in 2016, far ahead of Europe, while East Africa is leaping ahead.In value terms, Guinea’s main partner in the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) is Ghana, with which it trades gold. Far behind comes Mali and Senegal. Guinea also applies the ECOWAS common external tariff. n

The sector has attracted many

thousands of dollars in investment.

/ 25

Companies are importing a lot more equipment to build the infrastructure they need. Seen here, everything needed to build a cement factory.

Imports of Asian products are skyrocketing…

… But so are exports

Other countries in Asia and Oceania European Union Middle East Eastern and Southern Africa West Africa North America Other European countries

2,236 4,558393333286

177

23,113

6,329

3,039

5,097 6,100

2,7042,704

2,1272,127

6,4743,6913,1951,462495

729664

531343

509343

(In billions of GNF)

2010

2016

2010

2016

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INFRASTRUCTURE

TRANSPORT

Energy and logistics pick up the paceThe lack of socio-economic infrastructure is hampering the country’s growth. If the country is to benefit from its strategic location in West Africa, upgrading its infrastructure is a priority.

Guinea is without doubt one of the countries in the world where the gap between cur­rent and potential development is the

widest. This is largely due to the inadequacy or poor quality of its basic infrastructure in transport, energy and logistics. Between 2010 and 2016, the number of kilometres of national paved roads even decreased from 2,332 km to 2,220 km. So did the dirt road and the prefectoral road networks during the same period. The Ebola outbreak at the end of 2013 revealed, if necessary, these shortcomings in emergency response capacity.This is why the government has made infra­structure improvement the core of its National Economic and Social Development Plan (PNDES). For this purpose, it is stepping up the mobilisation of domestic resources, already on the rise for two years, while resorting more to non­concessional loans and is already able to count on the support of its partners.

Facilitate sub-regional tradeTransport infrastructure is all the more impor­tant for Guinea as the country is in a strategic geographical location. It shares 3,400 km of bor­ders with Côte d’Ivoire, Guinea­Bissau, Liberia, Mali, Senegal and Sierra Leone. Trade with these countries is an important means of combating poverty. Guinea also has a 320 km coastline. By adopting a multimodal approach to the SM

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China, Europe, Japan and

multilateral institutions all

support the National Economic

and Social Development Plan

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What will Conakry look like in 2040?

Grand Conakry Vision 2040 is first and

foremost a study on the issues of the

“metropolisation” of the Guinean capital

and its greater suburbs. Financed by

the European Union and carried out

in 2016 by Louis Berger, in association

with Arte Charpentier Architectes, it is

a step towards the development of a

territorial coherence scheme, a PNDES

priority project estimated at a cost

of $13.1 million (€11 million). Greater

Conakry 2040 aims to better distribute

the population, which is set to double in

twenty years and reach 6 million people,

throughout the capital. To provide

mobility and improve degraded health

infrastructure, its strategy consists of

restructuring the city’s expansion by

controlling the “spontaneous” aspect

of its urbanisation, as well as improving

the attractiveness of neighbouring

secondary towns. Among the most

advanced projects are the development

of the Kouriah industrial zone, social

housing projects, the Port of Conakry

expansion and the development of

waste-to-energy projects. In October

2017, the government presented its

urban development master plan for

the Kaloum Peninsula and Loos Islands

municipality, to the extreme south of

the capital. It includes optimising the

waterfront and building or renovating

social housing and road infrastructure. n

The Malapouya mining road towards Dapilon

and its bridge over National Highway 3, in

the Boké region.

28 \

INFRASTRUCTURETRANSPORT

development of its transport infrastruc­ture (roads, rail, sea and air routes), it has the potential to become a hub for regional trade, by offering landlocked countries such as Mali access to the sea, as provided for in the works under way at the Autonomous Port of Conakry.At the same time, the PNDES aims to improve traffic on prefectural and community roads, which are essential to agricultural growth, par­ticularly cotton, coffee, oil palm, pineapple and food crop plantations. The expansion of the capital will be given a maximum of conside­ration in the urban transport policy that will be implemented through the Greater Conakry 2040 project (see box on previous page).

3,000 km of road paved by 2020The PNDES aims to increase the total length of paved roads from 2,220 km in 2016 to 3,000 km by 2020, and will increase the density of the road network over the same period from 17.63 km of road per 100 km² of land area to 20 km per 100 km². At least half of the rural agglomerations will have to be opened up, and special attention will be paid to those prefectures currently not served by paved roads. Thirteen of the PNDES’s largest projects focus on transport infrastructure.Several road projects are already under discus­sion with China under the agreement initialled on 5 September 2017, which provides for loans from Beijing amounting to $20 billion (€16.8 billion) over two decades, backed “by future revenues from mining projects carried out by Chinese companies in Guinea”. The building of the Coyah­Mamou­Dabola road has thus begun while the sanitation of Conakry’s roads is underway. There are numerous projects that will provide opportunities for local and international entrepreneurs.In order to improve the business environment in this sector, in the short term several institutions will be established – including a road agency – and reforms implemented to make the road database and the Public Works Laboratory operational, and boost the resources of the second generation road maintenance fund, etc. n

Aviation takes o� again after a decline in arrivals and departures

Length of the road network in 2010 and 2016 In km

0 1000 2000 3000 4000 5000

1,907

1,215 997 579

1,935

1,245

1,8671,9161,114611 1,113 665

871543

9911,777 984 1,802

2,332

2,2205,255

5,293

20,378

19,845

15,878

15,515

Africa Europe Domestic flights

Communal road

Prefectoral road

National road:dirt roadpaved road

2012

Departures Arrivals

2014

2016

201043,348

km

201643,368

km

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In February, the Boké Mining Company began building a communal road

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Aviation takes o� again after a decline in arrivals and departures

Length of the road network in 2010 and 2016 In km

0 1000 2000 3000 4000 5000

1,907

1,215 997 579

1,935

1,245

1,8671,9161,114611 1,113 665

871543

9911,777 984 1,802

2,332

2,2205,255

5,293

20,378

19,845

15,878

15,515

Africa Europe Domestic flights

Communal road

Prefectoral road

National road:dirt roadpaved road

2012

Departures Arrivals

2014

2016

201043,348

km

201643,368

km

An integrated, multimodal approach

Surrounded by six West African countries, Guinea plans

to take advantage of its location by developing its

road infrastructure, but also by combining rail, air and

shipping networks in a multimodal approach.

Conakry-Kankan line construction back on track

Another of the PNDES transport

priorities is getting construction work on

the Conakry-Kankan line going again,

under a public-private partnership (PPP).

The government sees the practicalities of combining

the transport of people and goods with mining, which is

the way things have been done on the Conakry (Kaloum

commune)-Kagbelen (Dubréka commune) line, in the

greater suburbs of the capital since 2010. The mining

and other extractive industry projects implemented

that require the building of a rail network can be used

to open up agricultural areas and even to develop

passenger transport.

Upgrading airportsWhile there is still talk of building a new

airport at Mafèrinyah under a public-

private partnership (PPP), the PNDES

favours the maintenance of existing

structures, in particular the rehabilitation

of the Boké, Labé, Nzérékoré, Faranah and Siguiri

secondary airports, under the same PPP mechanism.

The upgrading of these airports will provide ideal

conditions just in time for the first regional flights of

Guinea Airlines, founded in February 2017 and which,

in January of this year, formed a strategic alliance with

Ethiopian Airlines and Asky Airlines. This partnership

covers the airline management, equipment and

maintenance as well as personnel training. Guinea

Airlines’ fleet comprises two Dash-8 Q400s and a

Boeing 737, with which it will make domestic flights

and fly to certain capitals in the sub-region – the first of

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The Port of Conakry, a West African giant in the makingThe Autonomous Port of Conakry is undergoing unprecedented expansion which will boost its cargo and mineral handling capacity.

Guinea is experiencing steadily increa­sing maritime traffic which the Autonomous Port of Conakry (PAC)

can no longer handle in its current form. The state therefore embarked on an ambitious extension project, the likes of which Guinea has never seen before, that provides for an extra 88.7 hectares to develop the eastern zone in order an increase its capacity to handle cargo and minerals, both its own and those of neighbouring Mali.

An extra 88.7 hectares China Harbour Engineering Co (CHEC), which is responsible for the design, supply

of equipment and execution of infrastructure works under the EPC (engineering, procure­ment, construction) regime, signed a memo­randum of understanding with the Guinean government in April 2013. The social and environmental impact study was comple­ted and the commercial contract signed in October 2016. Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC) has established a frame­work agreement with a consortium of five Chinese banks for the financing of 85% of the project, whose total cost is $774 million (nearly €650 million). More specifically, CHEC will build two multifunctional docks and a mineral dock, for a length of 846 metres,

In the early 2000s, China

Harbour Engineering Co executed

harbour works

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The container terminal at the Port of Conakry has been operated by

Bolloré Africa Logistics since 2011.

INFRASTRUCTURE

/ 31

Mining companies, new port operatorsSeveral mining projects include the building of ports that could eventually become multi-sector infrastructure. The Guinean Ministry of Mines and Geology has signed a global contract with the Chinese company Tebian Electric

Apparatus Stock (TBEA) for the construction of the Amaria hydroelectric power plant, as well as bauxite mining and processing structures and a deep water port in Tayigbé. Similarly, in December 2017, the African Development Bank (AfDB) approved

a $100 million loan for a railway, port and mine project between Boké and Kamsar, in north-west Guinea, to be carried out by Guinea Alumina Corporation (GAC, a subsidiary of Emirates Global Aluminium). In October 2016, the

Société Minière de Boké-Winning Africa Port (SMB-WAP) consortium had already commissioned an extension to the port of Katougouma, in Dapilon – also in the Boké region – in order to increase its export capacity. n

with dockyards adjacent to the 41.6 hectare wharf. The construction of a 4 km long road and an 11 hectare parking area capable of accommodating 600 trucks is planned, as is the backfilling of a 35.7 hectare quayside platform.

Fourth generation shipsCHEC, which has already handled several port upgrades on the continent (Côte d’Ivoire, Cameroon, São Tomé and Principe, etc.), was already at work in Conakry in the early 2000s. It carried out the work on the PAC container terminal quay, officially commissioned in November 2014 by Conakry Terminal, a sub­sidiary of Bolloré Africa Logistics (BAL). This infrastructure upgrade has enabled the PAC to become one of the region’s most competitive ports, capable of handling fourth generation vessels with a capacity of 5,000 twenty­foot equivalent containers (TEUs). At a cost of €47 million, the project increased the total quay length to 600 m and the BAL storage area within the PAC site to over 226,000 m². At the same time, BAL improved its productivity by accelerating its handling rates, from 19 movements in 2011 to 35 in 2014. The Bolloré group plans to invest a total of €500 million over its 25­year concession term, which it was awarded in 2011. n

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2012 2016

Imported goods

CONTAINERISED 1 207,495 1 659,283

PACKAGED 782,744 734,309

NOT PACKAGED 72,152 123,012

BULK 1 212,044 2 412,312

Exported goods

CONTAINERISED 222,925 219,493

PACKAGED 1,295 11,992

NOT PACKAGED 1,497 39

BULK 3 421,403 3 432 584

(in tons)

Cargo packaging types

Shipping traffic (in tons)

3.388,7713.388,771

4.928,916 4.928,916 3.659,113 3.659,113

3.647,3373.647,337

2012 2016

ImportExport

32 \

INFRASTRUCTURE

EXTRACTIVE INDUSTRIES

Bauxite spearheading miningFor the past two years, the sector has exploded. And that’s just a start. Guinea’s ground is packed with minerals which the country intends to take full advantage of to improve its infrastructure and boost its agricultural sector.

In 2016, extractive industries accounted for 80% of Guinea’s exports, nearly 13% of its GDP and about 15% of government revenue.

These are impressive figures, even though the country exploits only a tiny fraction of its exceptional mining resources. The National Economic and Social Development Plan (PNDES) has made agriculture and services Guinea’s engines of economic growth, as they generate far more jobs than the extrac­tive industries. Nevertheless, the revenues created by mining and oil must serve as a catalyst for development. Bauxite (48.2% in 2016) and gold (30.9%) account for almost all ore exports in value terms. Given their potential and what the country has to offer (see box on next page), mining production has considerable scope for growth, which the authorities intend to make the most of by improving the sector environment. In

recent years, due to strong demand from China, the leading producer and consumer of aluminium, and the somewhat fluctuating exports of its former suppliers (Indonesia and Malaysia), bauxite, of which Guinea holds more than half of the world’s known reserves, is attracting investment, particularly in the Boké region.

Ever increasing investmentsIn 2015, the historical producers Compagnie des Bauxites de Guinée (CBG, 49% state­owned and 51% Halco Mining) in Boké and the international giant Rusal, established in Fria and Kindia, saw a new player, Société Minière de Boké (SMB), start operating its mines.Not only do these companies plan to raise considerable funds to increase their capacity, but several new entrants are following suit. CBG received a $643 million (€580 million) loan agreement from several international institutions for this purpose in 2016, while SMB has also announced major investments. Rusal is preparing to operate the Dian­Dian bauxite and alumina mine, which required nearly $220 million, and is also restarting its alumina refinery in Friguia, which has been shut down since 2012, at an estimated cost of $825 million.

13%Extractive industries

share of GDP

Gold sector shines up its actGold export revenues are estimated at $470 million (€412 million) at the end of the first six months of 2017, compared to $304 million the previous year. This progress is not only due to the pace of gold mining which is being maintained at a healthy level, but also because the sector has undergone a clean-up, started in May 2016. n

/ 33

One of the new players, Guinea Alumina Corporation (GAC), a subsidiary of Emirates Global Aluminium (EGA), plans to start opera­ting its Boké site in 2019 to secure supplies for its planned Dubai refinery. In February 2016, the British company Alufer Mining signed an agreement to operate the Bel­Air deposit in the town of Boffa, where it initially invested nearly $185 million.In addition, Alliance Minière Responsable (AMR) and China Henan International Cooperation Group also intend to operate bauxite, while China Power Investment Corp. wants to found an alumina refinery.

Constraint and opportunityWhen setting up operations in Guinea, com­panies often have to build the infrastructure needed to transport their minerals to the coast. In 2014, to create a stronger regulatory framework for this constraint, which also represents an opportunity for Guinea, the government adopted a Master Plan for the development of mining­related infrastruc­ture. Companies are invited to pool their infrastructure and make them available to other sectors of activity.Under this new framework, Guinea Alumina Corporation, estimated at $1.4 billion, plans to modernise an existing multi­user rail

system and develop port facilities in Kamsar.Chinese company Tebian Electric Apparatus Stock (TBEA) is building the Amaria hydro­electric dam in Dubréka prefecture as part of a $2.89 billion global agreement that also covers bauxite mining. The operation alone of the Mount Simandou iron ore deposit, for which the contract is in the process of being transferred from Rio Tinto to Chinalco, requires the construction of a 650­kilometre railway, 35 bridges, 24 kilometres of tunnel and a port. n

A rich rangeIn addition to bauxite, iron, gold and diamonds, Guinea has enviable mineral wealth and a rich range of natural resources that the government is committed to exploring fully through geological research. These include limestone, copper, lead, zinc, cobalt and nickel. The National Oil Board, with its private partners, continues to drill for hydrocarbons in areas where their existence has been confirmed. n

SMB

SOURCE: OFFICE OF STRATEGIC DEVELOPMENT/MINISTRY OF MINES AND GEOLOGY

Malapouya extraction plateau, in the Boké region

2012 2014 2016

BAUXITE 19,530 20,170 26,917

ALUMINA 167.02 - -

INDUSTRIAL PROD. 519.4 754.2 973.3

ARTISANAL PROD. 0.03 0.2 -

INDUSTRIAL DIAMOND PROD. 278.8 162.1 117.2

ARTISANAL DIAMOND PROD. 266.8 164.1 -

GRANITE 275.5 1,637.1 162.7

Mine and quarry production (in thousands of tons, ounces, carats and m³)

34 \

INFRASTRUCTUREEXTRACTIVE INDUSTRIES

INTERVIEW

What makes it worth investing in mining in Guinea today?The country’s potential in terms of quantity, diversity and quality is well known. What has fundamentally changed in recent years is that, in addition to our natural advantages, we have created a favourable investment environment. We first adopted a mining code in 2011, then amended it in 2013 in line with the global context. Beyond traditional incentives, it introduces new requirements, particularly in terms of good governance. Institutional reforms have also been implemented to make the administration more efficient in managing investment processes, following the results of an audit carried out by KPMG. We have profoundly

reformed the mining cadastre, which is now one of the most modern in the world, and we publish all contracts in the sector. It is available online and investors have access to the main information. Since 2014, the country has been in compliance with the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative. Recently, we opened a single window for mining investors and we are continuing our efforts to improve the conditions for them entering the sector.

Are these reforms attracting investors?Yes, if the overall intentions announced for the 2016-2020 period are anything to go by. They amount to about $7 billion [nearly €6 billion], of which we’ve already

acquired $3 billion. We have also more than doubled our bauxite production in three years, and this trend is continuing. But our fundamental objective is processing. Nine projects to manufacture aluminum from bauxite and a programme to manufacture aluminium from alumina are under discussion. Most are in the study phase.

How does the mining code balance the needs of investors with those of the state?It is a win-win approach. Guinea has to reap the benefits of mining and needs partners primarily motivated by profits. We have created favourable conditions for both stakeholders, which also enable us to ensure the

development of the country.

How do you ride out world price fluctuations?Firstly, we are working towards diversifying mining to compensate for potential mineral price declines by promoting the variety of minerals to be found underground and by improving our knowledge through geological research. We were recently presented with a graphite mining project and it has a good chance of being launched. In the negotiations, we also take into account the specific context of a project, i.e. the level of investment required, the difficulty of access to resources and all the other parameters that determine its economic viability.

“We have created a favourable investment environment”

ABDOULAYE MAGASSOUBA, Minister of Mines and Geology since 2016, is a specialist in public and private investment projects. Previously an advisor to the Presidency’s Monitoring and Support Office, he managed priority projects, mainly in energy and agriculture.

/ 35

Where are you with the transfer of control of the Mount Simandou deposit?We have signed an agreement in principle for the takeover of Rio Tinto’s shares by Chinalco and are working to finalise detailed legal contracts. There have been some delays but the complexity of this project no doubt justifies them. We are confident and expect it to be up and running rapidly.

Is China just like any other partner, after signing the investment contract guaranteed by mining?Firstly, everything with China has been done according to

the mining code, as with any other partner. Secondly, what we plan to do with future revenues makes this strategic partnership innovative, because mines do not create enough jobs. Alone, with finite resources, they will not make it possible to fight poverty and guarantee Guinea’s development. We are using this sector as a catalyst for economic transformation: it will enable us to build basic infrastructure in transport, energy, health, education and so on. The ultimate objective is to gain independence from the mines.

In which context do mining

companies invest in infrastructure?In 2014, we adopted the Master Plan for Mining Infrastructure Development, one of the key ideas of which is joint use. Thus, the facility built by one stakeholder is intended to be shared with other mining operators as well as with different sectors, especially agriculture. Recent agricultural sector imports as part of the presidential initiative came through a mining port, as did some of the equipment for the Souapiti dam. The signing of a joint-use agreement between CBG [Compagnie des Bauxites de Guinée], Rusal and GAC [Guinea Alumina Corporation] in 2015 made these

companies’ projects more economically viable.

Are you satisfied with companies’ ‘local content’ performance?We have made significant progress, but not to the point of satisfaction. We are building our project-tracking capabilities to improve environmental impact. We are also in the implementation phase of the local economic development fund, financed by mining companies. We have a policy of promoting local content, with established rules and, in 2017, evaluated the companies that take into account the shortcomings we have identified. n

Around $7 billion in intentions has been

announced for the sector. Here, the Dapilon ore port.

36 \

The Société Minière de Boké leaves nothing to chanceIn four years, Boké mining company SMB has become one of the country’s leading bauxite operators. It even built two ports on the Rio Nunez River in record time to export its ore.

Masonry tools in hand, Pascal Camara and his colleagues are busy working on the entrance to the Dapilon river

port in Boké. With a workers’ collaborative, the Union Préfectorale des Entrepreneurs de Boké, he’s building a weighbridge to weigh the trucks that unload the bauxite ore mined some 30 km away. “Union” is a bit of a misnomer for five sole proprietors who, judiciously, have grouped together to win contracts which they would not be able to bid for alone.

10%State share in the

company

Like everything it has done since getting its reconnaissance permit in October 2014, the Société Minière de Boké (SMB)­Winning Africa Port (WAP) consortium, whose mine began operations in July 2015, built the port of Dapilon in record time in order to boost its bauxite export capacity. Located downstream from the port of Katougouma, built by the same consortium with its own funds, it was commissioned in October 2016 and comprises three loading docks capable of accommodating six barges.

EXTRACTIVE INDUSTRIES

INFRASTRUCTURE

/ 37

SMB bauxite mining company is the result of three companies’ need to set up a consortium that would quickly be able to operate and export bauxite to China. They are Winning Shipping (40%), the largest transporter of bauxite to China, United Mining Supply (UMS, 27%), the sub­region’s leading mining logistics company, present in Guinea for over 20 years, and Shandong Weiqiao (22%), one of the largest aluminium producers in the world. The skills and resources of these companies have enabled them to finance, along with the Guinean government, a 10% shareholder in SMB, as required by the mining code, a perfectly integrated project from the mine to the plant to the tune of €500 million to date, for a 12 to 31 million ton production increase between 2016 and 2017.

Commercial and multi-sectoralSince late 2017, SMB has been purchasing pro­duct from the Alliance Minière Responsable (AMR). With strong Chinese demand and a declining supply, great opportunities have arisen, and Guinea is seizing them with its private partners. It’s through AMR that Pascal Camara and his colleagues were awarded their first subcontract with an international company. Local content levels are still on the low side in the extractive industries, but the government is pushing for more examples like this in the context of corporate social responsibility. The river port shows what mining companies could bring in addition to taxes and revenues. Used by SMB barges, which unload their cargo onto ore­bulk­oil carrier ships of more than 175,000 tons moored off the coast, it could become a multi­sector commercial port, as envisaged in the Master Plan for the Mining Infrastructure Development, adopted in 2014. Already, in 2017, agricultural equipment was delivered via Dapilon.

A Guinean flag is flying over the customs building in this private port. Several pro­jects are in progress to improve the mining port infrastructure as it is currently equip­ped with only the bare necessities, whereas Katougouma is fully equipped with quays and cranes, roads and tracks. If heavy trucks are pulling up covered in red mud despite a blazing sun, it is because tankers spend the day watering the laterite tracks running between the two river ports and the mines, to keep the clouds of red dust under control so that the residents don’t complain. SMB moved fast to take advantage of a favourable situation which could change, but perhaps it was a little too quick for the surrounding population’s liking. So, at the same time that it started improving its own working condi­tions (expanding and rehabilitating the mine base, building port infrastructure, etc.) the company multiplied its efforts in the field of social and environmental responsibility.

Supporting communitiesThe affected communities have been pro­perly compensated, with about $3.5 million (€2.9 million) having been paid out since the SMB set up, and two schools and two health centres have been built. An interloc­king paved road is being built to open up several villages near the mining sites. The consortium estimates its contribution to community development in 2016 and 2017 at approximately $2 million. And 10,000 direct and indirect jobs have been created.In March 2018, SMB announced its partner­ship with Louis Berger, a global engineering consulting firm, to strengthen its environ­mental and social management plan. From an industrial point of view, it had indicated in December 2017 that it was carrying out studies on the construction of an alumina refinery and a railway line, for an investment amounting to approximately $3 billion. n

The consortium commissioned the Dapilon Port in October 2016. It is located downstream from that of Katougouma.

Production increased from 12 to 31 million tons between 2016 and 2017.

38 \

Guinea’s hydroelectric dreams come true

The country is at last exploiting its river system capacity that is unequalled anywhere else in West Africa. National demand is soon to be satisfied by the Kaléta, Souapiti and Amaria dams which will even serve neighbouring states, provided the distribution networks are improved.

Little or no access to electricity is one of the main obstacles to household and business activity in Guinea, which has

an electrification rate barely approaching 30% and that’s mainly around Conakry. However, the government has great ambitions in this area and forecasts that the accessibility to electricity, at 15% in 2016, will rise to 40% by 2020. It is going to be counting on its high rainfall and exceptional river network, with its 1,165 rivers covering 6,250 kilometres.

The power of the Konkouré RiverIn total, the country’s hydroelectric genera­tion potential is estimated at 6,100 megawatt hours of reliable, clean and cheap energy. This is the reason the government is doubling down on its efforts to exploit the Konkouré River as it has never been exploited before. The foundation of the country’s main hydro­electric projects, it rises in the Fouta­Djalon massif, near the town of Konkouré, and flows into Sangaréya Bay, north of Conakry, after a 303 km stretch.

INFRASTRUCTURE

ENERGY

While the Konkouré River already hosts the Garafiri dam, which came into operation in 1999, the numerous projects in existence since the colonial period to improve Guinea’s hydroelectric production capacity, particu­larly to supply the bauxite plateau mining industry, have never been implemented.

Kaléta will deliver an extra 240 MW The first of three new hydroelectric structures built by the government on the Konkouré River, the Kaléta dam was commissioned in September 2015. It is a source of an addi­tional 240 megawatts (MW) for the national grid and has been hailed as an exemplary success by the Programme for Infrastructure Development in Africa (PIDA). PIDA, formed in 2012 by the continent’s heads of state, even intends to make it a model for Africa. Worth $446 million (about €400 million), the dam was built by China International Water and Electric Corporation (CWE). The Guinean government provided 25% of the financing for its construction, while Afreximbank granted a loan at a preferential rate for the remaining 75%.

Souapiti, 6 billion cubic metres of water in reserveThe same company is currently in charge of building the Souapiti hydroelectric plant, located 135 km north of Conakry. It will have an installed capacity of 550 MW and, with its 6 billion m³ dam, will enable Kaléta and Garafiri to run at full capacity, even

Objective 2020: Increase rate

of access to electricity to

40%.

/ 39

during the dry season. Worth $1.4 billion, the project is being carried out in partnership with the Guinean government, and should be completed within five years.In January 2018, while witnessing the closing of the Souapiti cofferdam to divert the river through the dam, President Alpha Condé officially launched the start of construc­tion work on the Amaria Dam. Built in the Dubréka prefecture by China’s Tebian Electric Apparatus Stock (TBEA), this hydroelectric plant should have a capacity of 300 MW at the end of the fifty­six months required for its construction.This contract is part of a global agreement signed with the Guinean Ministry of Mines and Geology for operation of the abundant bauxite reserves in the region, and includes the construction of an alumina plant and an aluminium smelter. To meet their own needs, the mining companies currently produce about 100 MW themselves via costly thermal power plants. n

588 km of high voltage lines under construction The exploitation of the Konkouré River will double Guinea’s electricity production, estimated at 593 megawatts in 2016. However, considerable investment will be needed to increase capacity with new lines and transmission stations to transport electricity to consumption locations such as urban centres, industrial sites and neighbouring countries. The Guinean electricity network consists of only two interconnected systems, one in the West, between Conakry and Labé, the other in the Centre, around Dabola, while many isolated systems run on diesel. The first step to remedying this situation came in February 2018 when the Guinean and Malian governments launched the multinational 225 kV Guinea-Mali electricity interconnection project. The investment, estimated at nearly €300 million and financed by several donors, should make it possible to build a 714 km line (of which 588 km will be in Guinea) between Sanankoroba, in Mali, and N’zérékoré, in Guinea, where 121 villages and towns will be electrified. n

More and more power (in MW)

0

100

200

300

400

2012 2014 2016 2012 2014 2016

Installed power Available power

Hydro Thermal

TOTAL

214.1

TOTAL

338

TOTAL

145TOTAL

168.5

TOTAL

411.4

TOTAL

593.5

The Kaleta dam was commissioned on 28

September 2015.

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GUINEA MAPPED OUT

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42 \

SERVICES

Conakry catches upA number of luxury establishments have recently opened their doors in the capital, a sure sign of recovery. Business tourism has a lot to do with this revival and could lead to a rise in leisure tourism with tourists drawn to Guinea’s beaches, ecology and culture.

Not a year goes by without the official opening of new hotel being a regu-lar occurrence. The first champagne

corks were popped in 2013 when the Palm Camayenne reopened its doors. Built in 1964, it was the country’s first state-owned five-star hotel and it has now been completely renova-ted at a cost of €23 million by Unicon, which also manages it (see interview p. 44). The following year, it was joined by the Millenium, also located in Dixinn on the north coast.Kaloum, the capital’s administrative and commercial centre, has some catching up of its own to do and, in September 2015, the President of the Republic officially opened the Hotel Kaloum, an 18-storey establishment built by Chinese company GMC at a total cost of $76 million (€67 million).

City centre and seaside styleThe Noom, a five-star hotel located on the south coast of the Kaloum peninsula and managed by the Mangalis group, was built for around €30 million and opened at the end of September 2016 by the Head of State himself – proof of how important this sec-tor is to him. Mangalis is a subsidary of the Teyliom Group, owned by Senegalese entre-preneur Yérim Sow and the Noom is its first hotel on the continent. Conakry was also the location of choice for Starwood Hotels & Resorts, a subsidiary of America’s Marriott International, to build its first West African

Grand Sheraton in December 2016, at a cost of around $60 million. The Coleah district is where Azalaï, another African hotel group, will open its first hotel in Guinea. Here, too, President Condé himself laid the first stone of this four-star $52 million hotel, in 2015.There are some mid-range hotels that have also been renovated, and a new one belonging to the Onomo group, which for several years has been offering “a simple and comfortable business hotel” on the continent, opened in Conakry at the end of 2017.

Conference centres, bars and restaurantsIn total, several hundred million euros have been invested in the capital’s hotel industry and nearly 2,500 rooms have been created over the past five years, along with several thousand jobs. These hotels, almost all of which offer conference centres that can some-times accommodate up to 500 people, as well as meeting rooms, have enabled Conakry to match its supply to the growing business client demand for comfortable and stylish accommodation. Their restaurants and bars, on the coast or in the city centre, also offer new places to go out, and the Kaloum Hotel even has a shopping centre.Both the government and the hotel owners see these establishments becoming the gateways to other regions of Guinea and promoting leisure tourism.

HOSPITALITY

The Palm Camayenne was completely renovated at a cost of €23 million

Mangalis, Marriott, Onomo… All the big names have arrived.

/ 43

They are counting on the return of inter-national airlines; so far there are about ten – from Morocco, Ethiopia, Rwanda, France, Turkey and the Emirates – serving Conakry’s renovated Gbessia Airport. The new nation al airline, Guinea Airlines, should take off in mid-2018 and operate domestic and inter-national flights in partnership with the highly regarded Ethiopian Airlines and the pan-African company Asky. n

SOURCE: ANNUAL REPORT/STRATEGY AND DEVELOPMENT OFFICE/MINISTRY OF TOURISM, HOTELS AND HANDICRAFTS

CAN 2023 sets new goalsThe hotel business expansion, especially mid-range, is set to continue in the coming years, as Guinea is to host the Africa Cup of Nations football tournament in 2023. This international event traditionally allows host countries to improve a large range of infrastructure, including the hotels that will be hosting the national sports teams and technical staff (officials, referees, and managers, etc.), as well as the public. n

INFOG

2012 2014 2016

NON-RESIDENTS 89,183 30,241 60,226

GUINEANS LIVING ABROAD 6,881 2,531 2,804

from Europe 37,353 12,858 22,949

from Africa 40,151 11,455 21,470

from America 8,871 2,896 6,249

from Asia 925 356 6,044

FOR BUSINESS 38,434 15,561 33,012

FOR FAMILY REASONS 7,852 6,858 15,123

FOR PLEASURE 24,728 3,042 4,564

(Number of non-residents arriving in Guinea)

Tourists are returning

44 \

INTERVIEW

What made you want to renovate the Palm Camayenne? The political transition of 2010 created an influx of regional and international investors, particularly in sectors suffering from a lack of infrastructure. In 2011, we experienced first-hand the lack of hotels during our first visit to Conakry. So we evaluated several opportunities and chose the one that had the most symbolic value for Guinea, was the most suited to our customers by its location, and which matched the existing offer in terms of size, with 123 rooms

over a quality surface of 10,000 square metres. In addition to existing and future infrastructure, our €23 million investment took into account real economic growth prospects and the development of airport facilities and air services, as well as long-term contractual and legal security. It’s a forty-five year operation; you have to be patient and know how to adapt to cyclical hazards.

How did you cope with the crisis caused by the Ebola outbreak?Overnight, we went from 80% occupancy to 20% in April 2014.

We kept lines of communication open with state authorities, NGOs, medical services and our clients. We had to restructure the hotel’s financing, boost its capital and adjust its offering and prices in order to enable international organisations to mobilise a maximum of personnel on-site so that, as quickly as possible, they could put an end to the crisis, the economic consequences of which are still being felt because they slowed down several strategic projects at critical times of implementation. Several hotels have since started operating and we learnt an important lesson in flexibility and adaptability from this particular period.

What are your thoughts on the increasing number of hotels being built in Conakry?Today, the hotel market in the capital is covered in terms of rooms, but there are other opportunities in the western and northern parts of the country, where there are real needs. The key to profitability lies in distinct product segmentation and differentiation, with the right size investment and a certain amount of flexibility. It is also important to be able to provide local customers with quality catering, leisure and cultural activities so that the establishment isn’t entirely dependent on travellers, which is what the Palm Camayenne does. n

SERGE PEREIRA is Managing Director of Unicon, a global architecture, engineering and real estate development group. He was in charge of the renovation of the Palm Camayenne, a symbol of Guinea’s hotel industry since 1964.

SERVICESHOSPITALITY

In April 2014, as a result of the Ebola outbreak, occupancy fell from 80% to 20%. We had to learn how to be flexible and adaptable.

“There are opportunities to be found in the west and the north of the country.”SERGE PEREIRA, CEO, Unicon D

R

From bushland to seashore, there’s something for everyoneThere’s a rather fascinating term that has been used to describe Guinea for many years – ‘geological scandal’. It refers to the lack of exploitation of the country’s wealth of mineral resources. However, no-one ever talks about the lack of attention to the country’s wonderful diversity of landscapes and microclimates and the tourism opportunities they offer. From the fine sandy beaches of Boffa to the summits, forests and savannas of Fouta-Jalon, ecotourism would find a happy home here. Despite the rise in visitor arrivals since 2016 (see table on p. 43), with 63,000 people registered, twice as many as in 2015 and half the number expected for 2017, only 4,564 came for leisure.

Big ambitions for the hotel businessThe National Economic and Social Development Plan (PNDES) considers tourism to be a priority for the tertiary sector, by virtue of its capacity to diversify the economy and to benefit very different segments: rural communities, artists, craftsmen, hotel workers, tourist guides, etc. Its development is very much tied to that of local culture and handicraft activities and products.The PNDES aims to increase the tourism and hospitality share of GDP from 1.7% in 2015 to 3% by 2020 and, of employment, from 0.2% to at least 1% by 2020. As for the

hotel sector itself, it should see a 4.4% increase by 2020, having fallen 8.2% in 2015. Conakry’s increasing hotel capacity could respond to some of these expectations but the remainder presents a real challenge.

Sights set on arts and craftsAnother PNDES priority project is developing local artisanal activities (sewing, boiler making, dyeing, etc.), which employ 20% of the working population and account for 40% of national manufacturing production, mainly due to tourism. A previous plan had already enabled artisans to organise and expand their workforce, particularly by hiring women. The PNDES plans to spend around $8.34 million (€7 million) on several arts and crafts villages in the country devoted to production and trade. There are two other priority projects in the sector. One focuses on ecotourism in the Badiar National Park ($12.8 million) and the other on sustainable tourism development in a network of cross-border parks and protected areas. At an estimated cost of $4.8 million, the project consists of rehabilitating infrastructure (roads and energy, among others) and increasing the potential of parks in the adjoining prefectures of Gaoual, on the border with Guinea-Bissau, and Koundara, on the border with Senegal. n

FOCUS

By 2020, tourism and hospitality should be contributing 3% to GDP.

46 \

SERVICES

BANKING AND FINANCIAL SERVICES

Diversification bodes well for the futureGuinea’s modest banking sector is expanding steadily with the arrival of new institutions. However, it is hampered by a serious lack of long-term loans.

In 2017, the three dominant banking sector players – Ecobank, SGBG and Bicigui – held €1 billion in assets.

Three major bank groups are the histo-rical sector players and still dominate the Guinean banking scene. These are

the pan-African Ecobank Group and the subsidiaries of France’s Société Générale – Société Générale de Banques en Guinée – and BNP Paribas – Banque Internationale pour le Commerce et l’Industrie. In 2017, these three institutions held more than 11,000 billion GNF (about €1 billion) of the total 19,653 billion GNF in assets of the country’s 16 banks, according to the Association Professionnelle des Établissements de Crédit de Guinée. Guinea’s banking market is not among the biggest in the sub-region. None of its insti-tutions appear in Jeune Afrique’s ranking of West Africa’s Top 200 Banks. But the trend since 2010 has been good and the sector is increasingly diversified.

Nigeria, always the vanguardOne sign of this positive trend is the arrival of several new banks, bringing the num-ber of banking institutions in the country to 16. Just seven years ago there were only 11. Three took the plunge in 2010 of which two were Nigerian – United Bank for Africa, after obtaining its accreditation two years earlier, and Skye Bank. The NSIA group already had a foot in Conakry with its insurance business before opening its first bank in the capital.Cameroon’s Afriland First Bank followed two years later, where it introduced its wealth creation model in rural, urban and semi-urban areas, the MC2 microbanks and the Mutuelle Financière des Femmes Africaines (a financial mutuality for African women).Another Nigerian player, First Bank of Nigeria, arrived in 2015 following its acquisition of the Banque Internationale pour le Commerce de

/ 47

Guinée. Skye Bank’s current desire to withdraw from Guinea is due to structural problems, its management team having been replaced in 2016 by the rigorous Central Bank of Nigeria.

Promising results in 2017Despite two years of disputes between the sector’s trade unions and the banks’ manage-ment, in 2017 the banks achieved a net result of 291 billion GNF, against 273 billion GNF the previous year, according to data from the Governor of the Central Bank of the Republic of Guinea (BCRG). According to Louncény Nabé, all institutions operating in the country comply with the solvency ratio, which averaged 18.37% over the first nine months of 2017.Other positive indicators are that, at the end of December, the net international invest-ment position of commercial banks stood at 2,034.24 billion GNF, against 1,439.71 billion GNF a year earlier. Over the same period, deposits in Guinean francs and foreign cur-rencies increased by 27.8% and 8.36% respec-tively. This is due to the buoyant economy, and particularly the mining and agricultural sectors, but also to the BCRG policy pursued in recent years. In particular, it reduced the reserve requirement from 20% to 18% at the beginning of 2017, which is what credit ins-titutions had hoped for. The ongoing foreign exchange market reform should consolidate the unification of the official and parallel aspects of the market and avoid an overvaluation of the national currency.While the banked population rate has now reached 7%, compared to 3.7% in 2010, the financing of the Guinean economy is still constrained by the low level of savings, which stood at 11.45% of GDP in 2015. Similarly, the credit rate is 11% of GDP, compared to 2.5% five years ago, according to the head of the BCRG, but this rate is still insufficient and mainly concerns short-term loans. Of the 16 Guinean banks’ 5,520,140 million GNF commitments to companies in 2017, only 799,376 million GNF were long-term loans. n

Total Resources

of which individuals

of which companies

ECOBANK GUINEA 3.535,039 1.661,298 1.809,463

SGBG 3.054,030 1.263,383 1.790,647

BICIGUI (GROUPE BNP) 2.401,156 1.689,573 711,583

ORABANK 1.219,688 174,336 365,107

FIB 850,144 525,741 291,107

BPMG 733,993 190,795 291,682

UBA 722,967 174,336 248,833

BSIC 623,400 241,269 365,107

FBN 615,383 221,859 382,131

BIG 427,718 199,945 208,034

NSIA GUINÉE 368,501 127,857 159,072

AFB 363,432 114,768 200,468

BCI 351,069 52,837 246,291

SKYE BANK 122,926 31,575 91,345

BDG 22,699 - -

BNG 15,186 0 0

(At 31 December 2017, in millions of GNF)

(At 31 December 2017, in millions of GNF)

… and resources

Guinean bank results

A new insurance codeIn 2016 Guinea had 10 insurance companies in operation, compared to just six in 2010. While this trend reflects increasing consumer interest, the coverage rate remains among the lowest in the sub-region, partly due to the low insurance culture. A new insurance code was adopted in 2016 to improve the sector’s performance, including the future establishment of a reinsurance company, and the inclusion of microinsurance and agricultural insurance. The previous code dated from 1995.n

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19.653,85114.427,302

7.072,253 7.445,421

Total results Total resources of which individuals of which companies

48 \

SERVICES

ICT

Guinea 2.0The ACE submarine communications cable has brought Guinea a much more efficient connection. This digital progress is soon to be strengthened by a national fibre optic network.

T he transversal sector of information and communication technologies (ICT) is an essential growth lever

able to multiply services productivity, industrial performance and entrepreneu-rial creativity by ten. The country is taking giant strides to catch up with the cracking pace set by digital innovation.A landing station was built in Conakry to bring the Africa Coast to Europe (ACE) submarine cable into service. This is the first cable Guinea has connected to under the Warcip-Guinea or West Africa Regional Communication Infrastructure Program. The main objective of the project, which started in 2012 and ended in December 2016, was to increase the geographical reach of broadband networks and thus provide a high-quality, low-cost broadband Internet connection.

From France to South AfricaThe first step was to create an enabling environment for connectivity and admin-istrative capacity building and then, in a more down-to-earth way, to finance the connection to the ACE cable. The laying of the 17,000 km cable between France and South Africa cost approximately $700 million and each member of the 19-mem-ber consortium has to pay connection and subscription fees.To meet these obligations, the Guinéenne de Large Bande (Guilab - Guinean broadband)

was established in March 2011 through a public-private partnership. Responsible for the operation and main tenance of the national landing station, it makes the capacity allocated to the country available to its shareholders – national private operators and the State – respecting the principle of open access to all licensed stakeholders. It cost Guinea nearly $34 million, most of which was provided by the World Bank.

Better than expected resultsGuinea’s connection took place in March 2013, after the last 23 kilometres of cable connected Conakry to the rest of the world. At each stage of Warcip’s implementation, the government noted results exceeding tar-gets. The cost of overall capacity purchased monthly by the country having been divided by five, Internet access reached 24.4% by 2015, against the expected 5%.The overall disbursement rate of the project was estimated at 98% in December 2016, the best Warcip in the sub-region, according to the World Bank. The introduction of 3G by telephone operators and the widespread use of wireless communications thanks to Wifi, Wimax and Edge have considerably increased the number of mobile subscribers with a current penetration rate approaching 100% (see table p. 50).

Digital backboneFor the authorities, the current step consists of constructing the digital backbone, starting from the landing point and linking all the major urban areas throughout the country to the fibre optic network. China’s Huawei began building this 4,000 km or so backbone in 2015 at a total cost of $238 million, 85% of which is being financed by China and the remaining 15% by the Guineangovernment. Once

$700million has been

invested to digitally link the two continents.

➙

/ 49

A strengthened regulatory frameworkA new telecommunications and information technology law was promulgated on 13 August 2015 to take into account the advances under way, their legal implications and the needs for sub-regional integration. Regulation will also be strengthened through a stronger and more effective regulatory authority.

From an institutional point of view, the government has its work cut out rehabilitating the state telecommunications company Société des Télécommunications de Guinée (Sotelgui), which had a 16% market share shortly before suspending its activities in 2013. n

In 2015, internet access reached 24.4%.

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SERVICESITC

the work is completed (scheduled for this year), the country will have even more efficient telecommunications services at a lower cost.Several priority sections had already been completed by the end of 2017, according to the Société de Gestion et d’Exploitation du Backbone National (SOGEB). These are the Conakry-Boké, Conakry-Mamou, Mamou-Labé, Mamou-Kankan, Mamou-Faranah, Kolaboui-Kamsar and Tanéné-Fria sections. Ultimately, the network could be linked to the rest of the West African sub-region.

Home stretchOnce the backbone of the cable has been installed, there is still the “last mile” to be completed, i.e. extending it to institutions, businesses, homes, etc. This operation, gene-rally carried out in conjunction with private operators, is a National Economic and Social Development Plan (PNDES) priority project. Estimated at $80.7 million, this project aims to meet the bandwidth needs, which will be multiplied by thirteen by 2025, as well as high 4G expectations.To this end, it plans to increase the capacity available to operators, extend the fibre optic network to households and take certain measures in favour of the sector such as

the creation of incubators, the promotion of digital education and the interconnection of administrative services. By 2020, the PNDES aims to increase postal and telecommunica-tions services to 4.4%, compared with 2.1% in 2015. n

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Bandwith needs will have been multiplied by thirteen by 2025. This is the Sotelgui server room.

19 653 851

10,712of which 10,657

prepaidPenetration

rate97%

11,287of which 11,227

prepaidPenetration

rate98%

3,131Taux de pénétration 27.1 %

3,597Penetration rate 32.2%

7 072 253 7 445 421

Total Bilan Ressources totales dont particuliers dont entreprises

2016 2017

Mobile telephony Mobile internet

December 2016

December 2017

ORANGE MARKET SHARE 60% 64%

MTN MARKET SHARE 17% 18%

CELLCOM MARKET SHARE 23% 17%

INTERCEL MARKET SHARE 0.3% 0.2%

TOTAL (in billions of GNF) 920.9 1,058.5

Overall declared revenues Number of mobile phone and internet subscribers (in thousands)

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/ 51

A lpha Boubacar Barry is the hyperac-tive entrepreneur known for having launched, in partnership with the

government, the Sincery project, named after a mountain in the Fouta-Djalon highlands. This low-cost digital tablet is perfectly optimised for students’ needs and equipped with educational content. Students can buy one for 25,000 GNF (about €2.90) per month, which over 3,000 of them have already done by taking out a loan with Jatropha Microfinance. Established in 2011 by Alpha Boubacar Barry to fill the financing gap for young entrepreneurs, it has a timely presence in 12 public and private university agencies across the country.A former junior consultant with the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO), educated in Conakry, Stirling

(Scotland) and Cambridge (England) in modern literature, journalism and com-munication, as well as in organisational management, he helps get young Guineans interested in entrepreneurship and the digital world. He has taken this initiative even further by setting up the Be the Change Academy (BTCA), an incubator in the Kaporo district of Ratoma in northern Conakry, where he provides support and guidance to project initiators.

Back to reality “Their ideas are often very ambitious, even disconnected from reality. With four trainers, we attempt to reel them back in.” Offering market research, accounting, human resources management, marketing, techno-logical innovation... more than 2,400 people have been trained there, explains the com-pany director, as have the women’s groups sent by the Ministry of Social Action. Once their projects have been made viable, some of these budding entrepreneurs borrow directly from Jatropha, whose current loans now exceed $1 million (€837,000).The next step, currently in progress, is to create a digital platform around the Mamou Higher Institute of Technology, a town that will be linked to Conakry, 300 km away, by a planned highway supported by the National Economic and Social Development Plan (PNDES). Why not set up in the Guinean capital? “Because, like in California, most hubs of this type are born outside of the big cities, so that students have the right condi-tions to create and innovate,” says Boubacar, who estimates he will have to raise about $5 million to launch the project. n

Mentoring young entrepreneursAlpha Boubacar Barry, owner of Jatropha, a company active in microfinance and training, wants to set up the first technological platform in the country in Mamou.

Over 2,400 people have been trained at his Be the Change Academy incubator, established in Ratoma.

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SERVICES

REAL ESTATE AND CONSTRUCTION

Build 120,000 homes Guinea has to build tens of thousands of houses to curb informal settlements and cope with the strong population growth. Numerous developers from all over the world – China, Morocco, Turkey – are hard at work to make this happen.

W ith a population set to double in the next twenty four years, dila-pidated housing, a capital city in

which some neighbourhoods have grown uncontrollably… Guinea has much to do to improve housing. The National Economic and Social Development Plan (PNDES) has great ambitions, based on the Habitat Vision 2021 developed in 2012. One is to reduce the proportion of people living in slums from 17.3% in 2015 to 10% by 2020. They also plan to offer city dwellers a rate of access to decent housing of 30% that same year, against 21.7% five years earlier. Lastly, sustainable housing has to increase from 44.5% to 55% in the same period of time.

A painstaking jobThe government has several regulatory emergencies on the go to improve the construction environment. In 2015, it promulgated a housing code in order to restructure cities and put an end to informal housing, while a Single Window for land use is to be founded this year. The autho-rities, primarily the Ministry of Town and Territorial Planning, have undertaken to identify and register the State’s land reserves throughout the country. A painstaking job which is producing results and sometimes means recovering land erroneously sold to citizens, and even destroying informal housing, most recently on the river beds in Dubréka. A housing fund has been set up but still lacks resources, while the

establishment of a bank dedicated to this sector is under consideration. The restruc-turing of the Société Nationale d’Aména-gement et de la Promotion Immobilière (SONAPI – National Land and Real Estate Development Company) will make this institution Guinea’s main urbanisation tool.

China Dreal Group involved in KobayaThe other government priority is to accele-rate “large-scale construction of affordable housing”. For this the State has called on the private sector to get involved. In April, President Alpha Condé laid the foundation stone for a programme of 20,000 social housing units in Kobaya (Ratoma district, in the northern suburbs of Conakry). It is one of the biggest projects in progress. A real new town, it was built by the China Dreal Group. Its Guinean subsidiary, Guinea Mar Grandioso, built the famous mixed-use Plaza Diamant development in the Kipé district on the north coast of Conakry, featuring very chic houses and apartments which went onto the market in 2015.This time, the company’s mission will be to mix social housing levels. “We do not want to repeat the mistakes made by other countries where social housing schemes have become slums,” the Head of State explained during the ceremony. “Each time, we will demand that upmarket and mid-range dwellings coexist, so that the populations are mixed.”

In 2015, 17.5% of the

population lived in slums.

➙

A Turkish construction company hard at work on a new build in the Kaloum

district of Conakry, in February,

54 \

Housing, business district and schoolsThe new city will cover 650 hectares on a low beach area, explained Yao Tianping, CEO of China Dreal Group. Raising this area by two metres will require significant resources. The company will have to dredge rivers and build dikes and roads. The development will comprise housing, a business centre, hotels, schools and healthcare facilities. To reimburse the land transfer costs, China Dreal Group has also committed to building a secondary natio-nal administration centre with ten buildings,

to which the ministries – currently located in Kaloum – will be moving. “Over the next 15 years, 250,000 people will be able to move to this place,” says Yao Tianping. Once the development of the town is complete, plots of land in Kobaya will be available to private companies and individuals wishing to build there. In a first phase, 2,000 housing units are planned, and all have to be delivered within five years.

Land for housingKobaya is part of a larger project of 120,000 housing units valued at approximately $6 bil-lion (€5 billion). Ten or so agreements for their construction were signed with foreign and Guinean companies in 2016. Thus, 20,000 other housing units are planned in the Lambanyi and Kobaya districts, north-east of Conakry. The state has made it clear that the buildings have to be financed entirely by the private sector, with the State undertaking to grant land and tax and customs incentives.One of these agreements was signed in September 2016 between the State-owned SONAPI and China’s Power China Engineer for the construction of 50,000 housing units in Kassonyah, in the Coyah prefecture. The State, which provides its sovereign guarantee, has undertaken to contribute 15% of the financing. Accordingly, the first phase was reduced to 5,000 units at a total cost of $360 million.In addition to its 50,000 midrange and upmar-ket homes, Kassonyah will include a 22 km motorway linking the new town to Kaloum, an administrative and financial district, a ring road and two hotels. n

SERVICESREAL ESTATE AND CONSTRUCTION

➙

The new town

will cost $6 billion.

A Turkish low-cost prefab factory In April, President Alpha Condé saw representatives of the Turkish conglomerate Agaoglu, which has been operating in real estate, industry, tourism and energy since 1981. Now interested in getting involved in Guinea’s mining and commercial sectors, the group is hoping to build 5,000 low-cost modular housing units. To this end, it plans to set up a prefab factory, which Boubacar Keita, CEO of SONAPI, estimates will be able to export some of its production to neighbouring countries. n

The Turquoise Building, in the mining district of Conakry, houses a number of Turkish companies all working on Guinea’s economic development.

/ 55

Addoha delivers a premium housing estate to ColeahThe Moroccan company, which has undertaken to build three complexes in Conakry, duplicates the housing access formula that has made it so successful in Morocco.

In March, the Moroccan real estate developer Addoha started selling apartments under construction in the Douane estate, in the Matam district of Conakry. There is a dedicated “Addoha Guinea” Facebook page as well as a website, Citedouane.com.King Mohammed VI of Morocco and Alpha Condé, President of the Republic of Guinea, launched the construction of three housing estates in Conakry in March 2014. Built by Addoha, which in recent decades has demonstrated its skills in Morocco in the accelerated construction of social housing as well as luxury housing, these housing estates required a total investment of approximately 1.7 billion dirhams (more than €150 million). There were initial problems, such as a split with its Guinean partner followed by financial difficulties, which it has since overcome. Thus, in 2017, it was able to step up the pace of its projects in Guinea, as well as in Côte d’Ivoire and Senegal.

Building in partnership with Banque Centrale PopulaireWith the slogan “Buy your apartment for the price of the rent”, Addoha suggests, via a commercial to the tune of “Magic in the Air” by Ivorian group Magic System, that people visit its showrooms and model units. As in Morocco, its clients

can benefit from “flexible and tailored financing conditions” because the project was initiated in partnership with the Banque Centrale Populaire group.In the Douane Estate, in the Coleah district, near the administrative centre of Kaloum, Addoha delivers its apartments “with premium finishes” as well as a “ten-year guarantee” on the structural work. The programme comprises 761 housing units, including 633 midrange units and 128 upmarket units, for a total cost of 404 million dirhams.Efforts have to be redoubled

on getting its other two projects off the ground. The first, the Police Estate, consists of building a complex of 1,891 homes, including 1,486 social housing units, as well as local amenities (shops, nursery school, etc.) on a 5 hectare site, all for a total investment of 849 million dirhams.The second, Kipé, comprises 388 luxury housing units for 493 million dirhams. Addoha provides buyers with a one-stop shop offering banking, notary, property registry, and water and electricity supply services. n

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The programme comprises 761 apartments, including 128 upmarket units.

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SOCIETY

ENTREPRENEURSHIP

Incubators: bringing ideas to lifeThe private sector mainly comprises agricultural and commercial SMEs, many of which are informal. Large companies are most likely to be subsidiaries of international companies. So there is a great need to encourage the starting of young innovative companies.

M ore Guineans than ever are starting businesses, in keeping with the improving business environment.

There are an increasing number of initia-tives to support emerging talent, such as that of Alpha Boubacar Barry in information technology (see p. 51). Other passionate, inventive and determined entrepreneurs go it alone, before soliciting institutions for the means to grow.On a sunny Saturday afternoon, about 20 young girls are absorbed by their screens in the big hall of Blue Zone in Dixinn. This is a technology and innovation hub created by Bolloré Africa Logistics (see box on next page) in early 2010 in a few countries on the continent. While outside, in the sun, a group of children finish a basketball game and others trot around the field, the girls do stay glued to their screens, or discuss the final details of the projects they are stay glued to their to present in about ten minutes.They are taking part in the ‘Pitch ton Innovation’ programme, a competition

organised by Saboutech. This business incubator was founded in 2016 by seve-ral international and Guinean compa-nies (Blueline Guinea, Orange, Guilab, Société Générale de Banques en Guinée, Fiduxis, and Total, etc.) in association with the Ministry of Youth and the Posts and Telecommunications Regulatory Authority. Its objective: to discover, train and advise the entrepreneurs of tomorrow. It helps to compensate for the lack of support structures for young innovative compa-nies, private investment or the connec-tion between higher education and the business world.

A helping handThe name of the incubator, inspired by the word ‘sabou’, which means “helping hand” and, more generally, “mutual aid”, in the Susu, Fula and Malinka dialects, is perfectly appropriate. As the second part of its name indicates, Saboutech focuses particularly on the ICT, renewable energy

1,000 m² of space hosts young

emerging talent at Saboutech

/ 57

and environmental sectors.This Saturday, Kadidjatu Igue wins the competition with her project Pharmacy 224, which locates medicines, indicates the price and informs patients, via their mobile phones, when the medicines must be taken. Second in the competition is Fanta Kaba with her N’walima app, which allows students to get temporary jobs during their studies and, third, Hawa Camara and her Mobile Basket app, a web platform that enables consumers to check the quality and prices of products on the market. The day before, SabouInspire was held in the same space so that young entrepreneurs could share their experience with other less advanced project developers.The type of support offered by Saboutech depends on the maturity of the projects: from the entrepreneur who wishes to develop a good idea or put together a business plan to the company that already generates income and wants to grow. The incubator offers its know-how, training and

At Dixinn’s Blue Zone, young girls take part in the Pitch ton Innovation competition.

professional, legal and technical advice, as well as exposure through its competi-tions, and networking and support in the search for funding. Its 1,000 m² premises also host companies that do not require special support.From IT solutions, personal assistance, and mobile surveillance system installation and maintenance to web platforms for farmer interaction, several companies have already been incubated or simply supported. One of these is Fapel, a com-pany born in the early 2000s. Located in Labé, it specialises in the manufac-ture of reciprocating piston water pumps invented by its founder Barry Aguibou, and patented at the African Intellectual Property Organization. They provide an important service to farmers and house-holds. In 2016, the French President François Hollande himself honoured Aguibou among ten prize winners from around the world in La France s’Engage au Sud programme. n

Blue Zones abound in Conakry Like the one in Kaloum, located further south of Conakry, Dixinn’s Blue Zone is a unique place for leisure, sport, work and creation. Built by Bolloré Africa Logistics and Blue Solutions, two Bolloré group subsidiaries, these green spaces host health, lecture and prevention centres for young people, an e-learning school, a library, sports fields, workshops for craftsmen and, of course, an incubator, Saboutech. Since January 2017, the Blue Zone in Kaloum even houses the Canal Olympia cinema and theatre.

Each of these centres is powered by solar energy stored in Lithium Metal Polymer (LMP) batteries, a Blue Solutions technology or generated by photovoltaic panels supplied by Sunpower, a Total Group subsidiary. It was recently announced that Niger, Togo and Benin will also be getting their Blue Zones. n

Fapel, which manufactures water pumps, benefited from Saboutech support.

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SOCIETYENTREPRENEURSHIP

I n the elegant boutique he set up in the Minière district of Conakry, Mamadou Saïdou Diallo speaks with passion and

knowledge about his adventure with Artex, the company he founded in 2013. For a decade, his work with a Western NGO allowed him to meet all the country’s remaining wea-vers and he quickly realised that this trade was dying out. After a few years of thinking about it, he sold his house to finance his project and started out.He first trained with a craftsman from Labé whose technique he liked, before sharing this knowledge by accommodating, feeding

MAMADOU SAÏDOU DIALLO

Artex Guinée, 100% handwoven cottonIn four years, Artex Guinée has become known for the quality and originality of its handmade fabrics. Its founder, Mamadou Saïdou Diallo, is looking to expand to keep up with orders and is convinced that his country can become an exporter.

and paying apprentices – some of whom, to his great displeasure, left the country as illegal migrants once trained. He also built his eight wooden weaving machines, taking care to widen the strips generally sold from 30 centimetres to 1.30 metres, and now intends increasing this to 2 metres.His shop is frequented by locals as well as employees of foreign embassies and insti-tutions who come to buy fabrics of an asto-nishing quality and originality, and “that does not fade,” insists Mamadou Saïdou Diallo, whose mother was a dyer. “I was told that they could not be Guinean, that they had to come from abroad like so many other so-called local products.”More and more well-heeled customers are coming into his store, but the number of local customers remains lower than that of foreigners and the diaspora. However, purchasing power is not the only issue for the locals, believes Saïd Diallo, who thinks that they could be interested in his products if he had the means to advertise them. He recently made the bedside rugs and table-cloths and upholstered the armchairs for the newly opened Onomo Hotel in Conakry and also decorated the government’s communi-cation division offices. Now the company needs support to give it the working capital it requires to meet all the orders flowing in. Mamadou Saïdou Diallo would also like to see public support for the training he provides to his apprentice weavers. He is convinced that the country can recover its weaving heritage and export its product, like some neighbouring countries have done. Recently, the government agreed to give him unused industrial premises where he will move his looms from the house in Coyah that he he has been using as his workshop. n

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W hen Diakagbè Kaba is asked about the origins of the La Guinéenne des Terroirs food brand, she takes the

question seriously and gives it proper conside-ration before answering. An environmentalist and feminist activist, she takes us back forty years in the history of Guinea. Her studies in socio-anthropology, the hard agricultural labour of her maternal grandmother who raised her and whom she wanted to help, the need to create an association, although at the time associations, including women’s, were supervised by men...

DIAKAGBÈ KABA

La Guinéenne des Terroirs: if it’s packaged, it’s processed!Jams, dried fruit and other local delights – La Guinéenne des Terroirs has been selling processed agricultural products since 2012, something that is being emulated and encouraged the opening of a store in Conakry called Consommons Citoyen (Civic Consumers).

Finally, she decided that her structure, the Association Guinéenne pour l’Allégement des Charges Féminines (Agac), would be founded “by women and for women” in order to contribute to their empowerment, which remains the guiding principle of its associative activities. In the 1980s she was a civil servant in the Presidency of the Republic and a politi-cal opponent. By providing training, outreach and advice to women, she began to fully understand the country’s environment and became a key partner of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), which supported her spinning and saponification projects, among others, to enable workers to generate added value.She then left the administration and founded the Coopérative des Femmes Rurales pour l’Agriculture, la Souveraineté Alimentaire et le Développement (Cofrasad – rural women’s agriculture, food sovereignty and development cooperative), which processes the fresh pro-duce, since “everyone produces and sells the same thing at the same time”. A centre was built for drying tomatoes, mangoes, leaves, etc., and making jams. However, because packaged products are too expensive for rural areas, the cooperative decided to look for an outlet in Conakry, which is where the Consommons Guinéen store was opened in collaboration with several other local busi-nesses. These include the Reseau Böra Maalé, the Comptoir Sel Solaire, Café Ziama and La Petite Damba, whose smartly packaged palm oil and spices are also sold in supermarkets.About 15 affiliated groups send their pro-duction to La Guinéenne des Terroirs. They also sell the rest of their crops in their region, and some even create and promote their own brands, because La Guinéenne has inspired them. Now even rural people are starting to buy jam. As for the parent company, it has begun exporting small quantities to Canada and France, explains Diakagbè Kaba, who, since 2011, has returned to work for the government as Deputy Secretary General. n

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Agriculture and agribusiness

Agriculture is a true engine of growth Agriculture is the main source of employment in the country. New measures and increased investment will make it more productive and guarantee food security, as well as boost exports and develop agribusiness.

Objective 2030: drive activity up by 7.5% per year.

SOCIETY

W ith rainfall of 1,200 to 4,000 mil-limetres per year, a river network of 6,250 kilometres, and over 6

million hectares of arable land, Guinea has undeniable advantages to support its agricultural sector. Although it employs more than 50% of the active population, it accounts for only 9% of GDP (and 8% more when fishing, livestock and forestry are added). Because of its inclusive nature

and its ability to redistribute the value-added created, this sector constitutes, in the National Economic and Social Development Plan (PNDES), the engine of the country’s development. To become that engine, however, it first has to be structurally transformed. The govern-ment aims to double agricultural yields and the incomes of small food producers by 2030, using the PNDES to drive activity

/ 61

Local livestock breeding and feedingThe livestock sector has also grown in recent years, with an increase in employment and production (see table on p. 62), but this growth achieved only 2.9%, of the expected 5%. Performance has been hampered by the delayed implementation of certain sustainable livestock management

project actions, as well as by the insufficient investment. The government has nevertheless succeeded in strengthening the institutional framework in this field, building marketing some of the needed marketing infrastructure, implementing vaccination programmes and genetically improving species.

In addition to the weak technical and managerial capacity of professional livestock breeders’ organisations, the PNDES points to one constraint: sub-regional cooperation. If it was stronger, it would be worth producing livestock feed and veterinary products at competitive costs for a vast market. n

Agriculture has grown an average of 4.7% per annum in recent years.➙

up by 7.5% per year and implementing the Accelerated Food Security and Nutrition for Sustainable Agricultural Development Plan (PASANDAD, 2017-2020).

More structured organisationsThe emergence and promotion of farmers’ organisations are largely responsible for Guinea’s agriculture growing an average of 4.7% a year in recent years. These organisa-tions have been supplied with equipment, mainly through the agricultural service centres set up in all the prefectures across the country. Farmers’ access to inputs (ferti-lisers, seeds, plant protection products, etc.) at subsidised prices has also been facilitated but needs to be boosted, and their skills in using these inputs must be improved. The Ministry of Agriculture is working with the Moroccan fertiliser giant, the Office Chérifien des Phosphates (OCP), to improve performance in this area. Farmers’ efforts and government support have resulted in relatively improved agricultural production in recent years, especially rice, maize, fonio, cassava and groundnuts.

Development and research However, the government faces several constraints in supporting the agricultural

sector, such as inadequate water control infrastructure, a lack of sector-specific credit institutions and the predominance of family and subsistence farming using archaic techniques. Another major chal-lenge is inefficient marketing systems mainly linked to the isolation of certain production areas and the difficulties small producers have in accessing markets. The PNDES is committed to finding solutions to all these problems and has thus defined two priority projects: the hydro-agricul-tural development of 3,200 hectares of plains along the Sankarani River and the construction of plant material production and research centres for the Agricultural Research Institute of Guinea.

Granting women their rightful placeOne sustainable response to food and nutrition insecurity is to balance the ratio of women to men. The PASANDAD will focus particularly on the performance of agricultural sectors in which women and young people are involved, by support-ing the structuring of their organisations, strengthening individual capacities and providing inputs and equipment. Advocacy action around issues such as land

62 \

SOCIETYAGRICULTURE AND AGRIBUSINESS

ownership or decision-making will also be implemented to improve the status of women.

Cashew nuts for the futureIn terms of cash and export crops, the PNDES intends to gradually establish agricultural processing zones dedicated to sectors with the greatest potential. Among these, the President of the Republic – who also mentions sesame, palm oil and cocoa – attaches particular importance to cashew nuts which have performed well on the global market in recent years and could benefit Guinea’s economy. Objectives: have 1 million hectares of cashew trees by 2020 and produce 60,000 tons of nuts per year. It is a crop with a strong social impact in terms of job and wealth creation. In 2016, 204,000 ha had already been planted and another 175,000 ha were planted in 2017 in the Boké, Fria, Dubréka, Boffa (Lower Guinea) prefec-tures. That same year, 40,000 tons of nuts were shipped to India and Vietnam, the world’s main importers, according to the Guinean Association of Cashew Exporters (AGEXANA), formed in 2015.

Ziama Coffee gets the PGI labelThe Head of State also believes in the via-bility of coffee cultivation, and imported a ton of Arabica coffee seeds from Rwanda for planting but also for studying at the Bareng Agricultural Research Centre. Guinea is

also counting on its local coffee, Ziama de Macenta which, in 2014, was given the protected geographical indication (PGI) label after a four-year approval process from the African Intellectual Property Organisation (OAPI), with the support of the French Development Agency (AFD) and the Centre for International Cooperation in Agronomic Research (CIRAD). Grown in the Ziama Mountains, nearly 800 km from Conakry, this is Robusta coffee, but its qualities, particularly thanks to its soil and the know-how of its producers, make it similar to an Arabica.

Pineapples back with a fighting chanceGuinean pineapples are making a comeback on the agricultural landscape. The revival of this crop has been taken over by the Strategic Implementation Office (BES), overseen by the office of the Prime Minister, in coordi-nation with the Ministry of Agriculture and the Dalberg consultancy firm. In addition to increasing cultivated areas, access to fertilisers and irrigation, efforts are now focusing or marketing to both producers (export standards) and exporters (market access). Guinea exported several tens of thousands of tons of pineapples in the 1950s, before its cultivation declined. In July 2017 the government, the pineapple producers of Lower Guinea and French importer VB International signed a marketing agreement for 100 tons of pineapples to be sold on the European market. n

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There is also good potential for sesame, palm oil and cocoa.

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E�ectifs du cheptel par espèce (en milliers)

Volaille Bovins Caprins Ovins Porcins

2014 2016

30 11630 1166 7596 759

2 8512 8512 8512 8512 3802 380 127127

26 11626 1166 0746 074

2010 2012 2014 2016

COFFEE 29 018 17 907 41500 45 950

COTTON 0 680 15 000 15 000

CASHEWS - - 8 600 10 570

COCOA 15 160 8 040 7 500 8 200

(in tons)

Increased production of main export crops

/ 63

Industrial fishing back on the charts Once the sector had been redressed, Guinea was taken off the European Union’s black list, and is once more able to export its fish to the Union. Positive reforms are good for Sonit-Guinea, which has just ordered two new ships.

Hassan Saadi sits in his office, not far from the autonomous port of Conakry, and proudly details the development of Sonit-Guinée, a family business of which he is the managing director. Active in coffee and cocoa, real estate, food processing and industry, Sonit is also one of the only Guinean companies to have its own industrial fishing boats. It already owns eight vessels capable of catching up to 240 tons of fish per day – exported mainly to the rest of West Africa – and has just ordered the construction of two vessels in China, taking advantage of the current sector reorganisation.

In 2014, the European Union had blacklisted Guinea as a non-cooperative third country in the fight against illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing. This prevented the country from selling its fishery products in the EU and European vessels were prohibited from fishing off the Guinean coast. In 2016, André Loua, the Minister of Fisheries, Aquaculture and Maritime Economy estimated that these measures caused Guinea to lose €100 million a year. However, the consequences of illegal fishing were even more terrible in the long term: loss of earnings in terms of jobs and income and the

destruction of fishery resources, since no-take zones were not respected. Guinea thus revised its legal framework, improved surveillance of its coasts, notably by creating a maritime prefecture with the right to board offending vessels, and strengthened its sanctions system. After that, on 10 October 2016, the EU, the world’s largest importer of seafood products, de-listed Guinea. “There was a lot of confusion before these reforms,” says Hassan Saadi. “Since then, the quantities fished have started to increase and the quality has improved, which is why we have bought two new boats, although there is still room for improvement. We even recalled our vessels that were fishing in Sierra Leone because the environment here is better.”The government is taking advantage of the reform context to put an end to the system of licences granted to foreign vessels that do not invest locally, impose quotas and develop the national fleet. “We no longer issue licences to foreign fishing companies. They now have to be associated with Guineans to whom Guinean law can be applied,” explained the Minister of Fisheries in October, specifying that Guinea is now a member of the international advisory group to the Fisheries Transparency Initiative. n

The state no longer issues licences to foreign companies that don’t invest locally.

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SOCIETYAGRICULTURE & AGRIBUSINESS

Putting bread on the tableIn order to satisfy the national demand for flour, the Moulins d’Afrique is doubling its production capacity. This flour mill, a subsidiary of the Sonoco group, is as much the success story of a self-made man as it is an exemplary South-South partnership.

T he Les Moulins d’Afrique (LMA) flour mill in the Sonfonia district of northern Conakry looks just like any other fac-

tory run with the utmost professionalism. At the entrance, the visitors are invited to follow the lines drawn on the ground, alongside the car park where the trucks are parked, so as to avoid the trucks slowly driving in or out and stopping on the weighbridge to have their loads weighed. Offices, huge silos, the thud of machines in action, a storage shed with workers loading a truck nearby and everywhere is the unmistakable smell of baking bread.Next door to the huge warehouse is the bakery, where the baker is busily arranging

still-hot bread and pastries on the shelves. This is the last phase of the LMA’s flour pro-duction. Every day, a team repeats the same gestures as thousands of bakers around the country, to ensure that what is produced in neighbouring buildings is of good quality.The LMA mill was officially opened in March 2014 by President Alpha Condé and Morocco’s King Mohammed VI. The reason for this is that the company is the result of a partner-ship between the Guinean company Société Nouvelle de Commerce (Sonoco) and Les Moulins Lahlal. Nearly €30 million has been invested since 2012, the year that Sonoco, a flour importer, decided to go into production with its Moroccan partner. The manufacture and installation of the logistics chains were carried out by the Swiss company Bühler, a global giant in the sector. Built on 3.5 hectares, LMA produces about 600 tons of flour per day, milling wheat imported from Germany.It also has a bran processing plant where it produces livestock feed (cattle and poultry). Packed in 50 kg bags, Les Moulins products are distributed throughout the country under the AGB brand. Their vitamin and mineral levels are certified by the NGO Helen Keller International, leader in the prevention of

Morocco is a preferred partnerIn addition to Les Moulins Lahlal, several Moroccan companies have been able to establish links with local Guinean players or invest directly in strategic sectors of the country in recent years. Two of the Guinean government’s preferred partners are worldwide fertiliser giant, the Office Chérifien des Phosphates (OCP) and the Addoha Group, which is putting up a cement plant and building housing in Conakry. n

€30million has been

invested since 2012.

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blindness and malnutrition in the world. Next to the parking area for the trucks – the company has its own fleet of 27 Iveco trucks – several dozen containers are stored. About 50 were needed to expand the production unit, a sign of the success of the flour produced here and the capacity of the local market to absorb it. There is a plan to double the plant’s capacity, which will reach 1,250 tons this year and there are new silos being built by a French contractor.

Self-made manAn exemplary South-South partnership, the LMA story, and more broadly Sonoco, is that of a self-made man who migrated in the mid-1970s, aged 14, from Kégnéko, a village near Mamou, in Middle Guinea, to Conakry. Mamadou Saliou Diallo started his career as a hot bread salesman and is now the CEO of a diversified group which, in addition to LMA, has four subsidiaries specialising in trans-port and logistics (AM Transit), metallurgy (Metal Import), construction and real estate (Global Investment and Construction, GIC) and finance (Nouvelle Compagnie d’Inves-tissement, NCI). It provides 800 direct jobs and has a turnover of several million dollars.

Having arrived in the capital without any schooling, he was able to surround himself with trained executives. Among them, his eldest son, Abdoul Karim Diallo, Deputy Managing Director of the group since 2009, who graduated in marketing and communi-cation from the Institute for Leadership and Communication Studies (ILCS) in Rabat, and in management and strategy from Columbia Business School in New York.His example is all the more important because Sonoco’s initiatives correspond to the govern-ment’s priorities: ensuring food security for the population and creating employment and wealth. Thanks to its by-products, LMA aims to become the leading producer of livestock and poultry feed in Guinea and one of the biggest in the sub-region. By doubling its production capacity, the company also aims to conquer sub-regional and continental markets. n

Les Moulins d’Afrique produces around 600 tons of flour a day.

The company has also started producing livestock feed.

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SOCIETY

EDUCATION

Teachers seeking schoolsLike the health sector, primary and higher education are improving. There is still a need to step up the pace by improving teacher training and building new establishments. The general assembly announced by the Head of State will contribute to this.

W hen the Head of State delivered his New Year speech, he reminded the nation that, in recent years,

about 10,000 classrooms have been built and nearly 5,000 teachers recruited. The biometric census and the computer pro-cessing of student applications contributed to a better management of enrolment in higher education, he added, quickly cla-rifying that this was still not enough. One of the president’s priorities is to organise a general assembly with all stakeholders in order to reform the sector.In addition to a severe lack of infrastructure, teachers receive too little training. According to the diagnosis of the National Economic and Social Development Plan (PNDES) only 44% of teachers have received the required professional training. A significant propor-tion of young Guineans have not entered the education system and most students are not prepared to enter the labour market. Only 1% has access to quality technical and vocational training.The PNDES, building on ongoing sectoral programmes, seeks to develop a quality inclusive education system that meets the needs of the modern and informal sectors of the economy. This system will increasingly be oriented towards aligning education and employment, and will focus, to a large degree, on the development of vocational training. The PNDES also pays particular attention to reducing geographical and gender disparities.

Extra classrooms for better learning conditions are a priority.

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Four universities to upgradeThe Ministry of Higher Education lacks the infrastructure to meet the current demand, and the number of new students shows no sign of abating. In order to cope, four universities in the four natural regions of the country have to be extended and upgraded at an estimated cost of $300 million (about €250 million). These are the universities of Sonfonia, Labé, Kankan and Nzérékoré. Their overall capacity will have to increase from the current 26,000 students to 51,000. This project is expected to be carried out under the mines-for-infrastructure deal signed with China. A commercial contract was signed with China Bengbu International Technology and Economic Cooperation (CBITEC), while a framework agreement with a consortium of five Chinese banks was concluded to finance 85% of the Sonfonia University rehabilitation project.

1,000 PhDs and 5,000 MastersWhile the most qualified teachers are taking their retirement, the newer tea-chers are under-trained. The biometric census of teachers belonging to higher education institutions revealed that, out of a population of 1,392, 50% did not yet have a Master’s degree. To remedy this, the authorities have devised a seven-year access programme for degree courses, in particular in conjunction with the University of Tunis, the cost of which is estimated at $38.2 million.

Equipping laboratories and workshopsThis programme has to make do with a chronic lack of equipment in Guinea’s few technical and research institutions, as well as at the universities. The PNDES describes the situation as “alarming” as it affects the quality of training. The project described here should reduce the reliance on foreign

labour and increase the absorption rate of graduate students from local structures. Its cost is estimated at $22.5 million.

A future Centre of Excellence for Mining and Geology in BokéThis centre should contribute to impro-ving the employability of young Guineans in a rapidly growing mining sector. This centre will serve the sub-region and will be implemented within the framework of the Mano River Union which, in 2012, decided it would be built in Guinea. It will involve the transformation of the current Higher Institute of Mining and Geology in the mining town of Boké. The project, estimated at $3 million, could be carried out with German cooperation.

Middle and high schools are most urgentIt is imperative to continue building middle and high schools to meet current needs, estimated at four middle schools in each of the country’s prefectures. In Conakry, three middle schools and two high schools are needed in Matoto and Ratoma, and one middle school and one high school in Matam and Dixinn. Approximately $103 million is required for this project. n

$300million is needed for the Sonfonia, Labé,

Kankan and Nzérékoré universities.

Guinean mothers have mobilised to ensure their daughters have access to education.

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SOCIETY

HEALTH

Building a stronger health systemTo meet the many structural challenges presented by public health, the National Economic and Social Development Plan provides for increasing its financial and human resources.

Several indicators demonstrate the pro-gress made in Guinea’s health system in recent years. The infant mortality

rate fell from 163 deaths per 1,000 live births in 2005 to 61 per 1,000 in 2015, while the maternal mortality ratio decreased from 980 per 100,000 live births in 2005 to 724 per 100,000 in 2012. While the ambitious target of 250 deaths per 100,000 was not met, the rate continued to decline to reach 695 per 100,000 in 2015.

Better malaria treatmentTreatment and care of tuberculosis and mala-ria patients has improved, with healthcare facilities across the country providing free care. However, malaria still accounts for 40.8% of consultations, 45.3% of hospitali-sations in public health facilities and 36% of hospital deaths, with a prevalence rate of 44% among children under the age of five. Among the main causes of child mortality are acute respiratory infections and diarrhoeal diseases, as well as malnutrition. Similarly, HIV/AIDS prevalence fell to 1.7% in 2012, 2.1% among women and 1.2% among men. On the other hand, of the 30,040 sick people (59.1%) able to access antiretroviral treatment, only 21% were children, while the number of pregnant women receiving antiretroviral treatment rose from 17% in 2011 to 62% in 2014. These mixed results

were repeated during the Ebola epidemic in 2014, which exposed the fragility of the health system.

Too few doctors and healthcare facilitiesThe National Economic and Social Development Plan (PNDES) identifies several major structural constraints to be overcome to improve the population’s health status. These include the health system’s weak human capacity, both qualitatively and quantitatively. There are 1.3 doctors per 10,000 inhabitants in the country, compared to an African ave-rage of 2.6 doctors. The care capacity is also insufficient, with one bed for 3,600 inhabi-tants against the standard of 1 bed per 1,000 inhabitants, while 53% of public structures do not meet the health standards. The poverty and lack of health insurance only serves to aggravate this already serious situation.

Easier decision makingHealth sector governance is characterised by an embryonic health information sys-tem, which makes it difficult or impossible to analyse and rapidly disseminate health knowledge to facilitate decision-making. Handicapped by insufficient budgetary resources, the sector suffers from poor coor-dination between health authorities and their private or institutional partners.

Maternal and infant

mortality rates have

dropped.

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More services for everyoneThe PNDES intends to respond to these challenges to rapidly ensure better access to more efficient health services. By inte-grating the National Health Development Plan (PNDS) 2015-2024, it aims primarily to improve the sector governance by streng-thening its financial, technical and human capacities. The PNDES also intends to streng-then the essential medicines supply chain, promote innovative data collection tools to strengthen the health information system, as well as the health system at the prefectural and community levels, to increase equitable utilisation of health services. One of its main intentions is to achieve 15% social security coverage by 2020, compared to 6% in 2015. Social benefits will be greatly improved for the most vulnerable, to better cover risks

related to mother and infant health, working life, old age and illness, including informal sector workers and migrants.

A new schoolA new medical school will go a long way towards overcoming some of these challenges. This planned Faculty of Medicine, Pharmacy and Dentistry is a top priority PNDES pro-ject. The lack of laboratories for practical work distorts the diagnosis of insufficiently trained doctors. So, to improve the quality of medicine practiced in Guinea, laboratories are indispensible. And the number of doc-tors per capita has to be improved too. The cost is estimated at $10.7 million (about €9 million), and it will be built in partnership with the World Health Organisation or the World Bank. n

$10.7million is needed to

build the new medical faculty.

The PNDES is aiming for equitable access to health services.

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SOCIETY

YOUR TRIP

Hôtel Palm CamayenneBuilt in 1964 and renovated in 2013, the Hotel Palm Camayenne was independent Guinea’s first grand hotel. It has kept its charm and monumental architecture and remains one of the capital’s most luxurious establishments. Located in Dixinn, a few kilometres from Kaloum, considered to be Conakry’s administrative and business district, it overlooks the Atlantic Ocean, offering sea views, 123 rooms and suites, three restaurants and two bars, a large swimming pool and garden, along with three conference rooms and a business centre.

Dixinn, Sise Camayenne Corniche CP2818 Conakry + 224 656 10 10 10 + 224 656 10 10 10 info@palmcamayenne.com www.palmcamayenne.com

Onomo HotelThis hotel responds to the demands of a business clientele, as well as leisure tourists, by offering excellent value for money. The Onomo Conakry has 123 rooms, three rooms accessible to guests with reduced mobility and 12 superior rooms. For the first time, guests can choose to stay in a “Made in Onomo” hotel residence featuring

29 apartments of 36m² and three of 69m² with sea views. The hotel has four meeting rooms, with free wifi and freely available computers. Located on the sea front in Kaloum, it offers a big terrace overlooking a large, open green space.

Opposite the Jardin du 2-Octobre, Corniche Sud, Quartier Tombo, Commune de Kaloum, 5298P Conakry 5298P Conakry + 224 624 93 16 16 + 224 624 93 16 20 onomo.conakry@onomohotel.com www.onomohotel.com

Choosing your hotel in Conakry

The Noom, in the city centre, is one of the

capital’s swankiest hotels.

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If you have half a day free, the Loos Archipelago Islands are a beautiful and relaxing getaway. Just seven kilometres south of the Kaloum peninsula, getting out of the city and into the nature offered by the greater suburbs is quick and easy.

Calm after the storm

Loos (or Los) is an archipelago that covers about 60 km² and includes three main islands – Tamara, Kassa and Room – as well as four uninhabited islets in its southern part – Corail, Blanche, Cabris and Poulet. The whole forms a 19 km diameter circular shape. The island of Tombo, on which the historic centre of Conakry was built, was once part of the archipelago. People who visit these islands testify to the peaceful change of scenery and the calm they feel, just a stone’s throw from the tumult of the capital. Room, which was known as Crawford Island during

the British period of the archipelago, is one of many islands known to have inspired Robert Louis Stevenson’s novel Treasure Island.

Swimming, hiking, fishing...For those in search of long, lazy days, the Loos Islands are ideal – fine sandy coconut palm-lined beaches (nowhere to be found around Conakry) offer pleasant water temperatures year-round. For the sportier visitor, there are plenty of nautical activities including swimming, diving, sailing and fishing and great hiking opportunities. In terms of history and culture, there’s lots to see, including the former Fotoba penitentiary built during the French West Africa (AOF) period on Tamara Island and traces of the archipelago’s role in the slave trade. There are good eateries and guesthouses, for those who wish to stay longer.

Sheraton Grand ConakrySheraton Grand hotels offer “the highest levels of design and service”. And it was in Conakry that the world-renowned group offered its services for the first time in West Africa. Located in the residential district of Kipé, in the Ratoma commune, in the northwest of Conakry, the Sheraton Grand was officially opened in December 2016, offering rooms ranging from 36 m² for the “Club” to 186 m² for the presidential suite, via 57 m² Junior suites. In addition to its conference rooms and business centre, the eleven-storey establishment boasts a spa, fitness centre and infinity pool.

Kipé, centre émetteur, commune de Ratoma, Conakry + 224 624 93 12 12 www.sheratongrandconakry.com

Hotel NoomOf all the new hotels in Conakry, the Noom is probably the most modern with its iconic cruise ship-inspired façade totally suited to its seaside location. Located in the city centre, on the Kaloum peninsula, its terrace and restaurant have become ‘the place to be’ for the city’s young and not-so-young executives, where they meet to sip cocktails and enjoy pre-dinner appetisers, the sound of waves crashing on the cliff below in the background. Stylish-chic rooms and elegant lobby spaces are perfect for the business traveller.

Teminetaye, avenue de la République, commune de Kaloum BP 3472 Conakry + 224 626 33 33 33 info.conakry@noomhotels.com www.conakry.noomhotels.com/fr

Excursions

Room Island, part of the Loos Archipelago.

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Presidency of the Republic of Guinea www.presidence.gov.gn

Government www.gouvernement.gov.gn

Institutions related to the productive economy

Private Investment Promotion Agency (APIP)252, rue KA 022 - BP : 2024, Boulbinet, Conakry+ 224 656 31 11 14 info@apip.gov.gnwww.apip.gov.gn

Investment Portal www.invest.gov.gn

Autonomous Port of ConakryAvenue du Port, Coronthie, Kaloum, Conakryinfo@portconakry.comwww.portconakry.com

Guinea Mining Cadastre Portalwww.guinee.cadastreminier.org/fr

Posts & Telecommunications Regulatory Authority+ 224 657 66 66 31arpt@arpt.gov.gnwww.arpt.gov.gn

Ministries related to the productive economyMinistry of TransportCorniche, côté port, Almamya,

Kaloum, BP 715 Conakry+ 224 622 20 10 24

Ministry of Tourism, Hotels and Handicrafts Kaloum, Boulbinet, Conakry+ 224 625 50 46 84

Ministry of Economy and FinanceBoulevard du Commerce, KaloumBP 579 Conakrywww.mef.gov.gn

Ministry of Planning and International CooperationKaloum, AlmamyaBP 1210 Conakry+ 224 657 21 21 87www.mpciguinee.info

Ministry of Energy and Water ResourcesKaloum, AlmamyaBP 1217 Conakry+ 224 620 74 80 10

Ministry of AgricultureKaloum, Almamya BP 576 Conakry+ 224 664 24 72 63

Ministry of Town and Territorial PlanningKaloum, AlmamyaBP 846 Conakry+ 224 622 22 42 23

Ministry of Mines and GeologyBoulevard du Commerce, Almamya BP 295 Conakry+ 224 625 215 567info@mines.gov.gnwww.mines.gov.gn

Ministry of Public WorksAlmamyaBP 581 Conakry+ 224 622 38 62 26

Ministry of Technical Education and Professional Training Place du 8-Novembre, Tombo, KaloumBP 6278 Conakry+ 224 655 80 76 44www.metfpet.gov.gn

Ministry of Industry and SMEsKaloum, Almamya+ 224 622 32 46 30

Ministry of Posts, Telecommunications and Digital EconomyBoulevard du Commerce, rue KA 007, Kaloum, Almamya BP 5000 Conakry+ 224 631 70 72 72

Ministry of Fisheries, Aquaculture and Maritime Economy+ 224 628 52 11 02www.peches.gov.gn

USEFUL CONTACT DETAILS:

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PRACTICAL INFORMATION

220  GMTvolts, with European plugs

The Guinean franc (GNF) can only be exchanged in the country and one may only leave Guinea with a maximum of 10,000 GNF.

Some hotels take credit cards (Mastercard, Visa). The exchange rate of the Guinean franc (GNF) is floating; one euro currently corresponds to around 10,700 GNF.

+ 00:00

Visas and healthThere are visa exemptions for nationals of the following countries: Algeria, Benin, Burkina Faso, Cape Verde, Côte

d’Ivoire, Cuba, Egypt, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea-Bissau, Liberia, Mali, Mauritania, Morocco, Niger, Nigeria, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Tanzania, Togo, and Tunisia. Those from all other countries must apply at the Guinean consulate or embassy responsible for their countries before embarking on their journey. For information, a one month, single entry visa at the Guinean Embassy in Paris costs €60. Certain visas allow multiple entries and exits.A yellow fever vaccination certificate is required and anti-malaria treatment is advised.

ClimateThe country enjoys a tropical climate that varies according to the regions, with a big difference

between the coast and the centre, where the Fouta-Djalon range peaks at more than 1,500 metres. Conakry, on the other hand, located on the coast, experiences little variation during the year. In winter, daytime temperatures are about 30°C and, during the rainy season, can drop to 27°C, although the high humidity makes it seem hotter.

Getting thereAn increasing number of airlines are flying to the Conakry Gbessia International Airport: Air France, Royal Air Maroc,

Brussels Airlines, Turkish Airlines, Ethiopian Airlines, Emirates, Tunis Air, and Mauritania Airlines.The national airline, Guinea Airlines, is in the process of being formed in partnership with Ethiopian Airlines and Asky Airlines. Other than a few West African airports, it will link Guinea’s main towns and cities.

Electricity Currency Time difference