The Republic of Guinea, also called Guinea-Conakry, is located in the west coast of Africa and became independent from France in 1958.

Guinea has lived a thrilling 2008 with the death, in December, of its President Lansana Conte at which point Moussa Dadis Camara took over as president until the 2010 elections are to take place.

ECONOMY

Guinea's national budget relies heavily on revenues from the exploitation of the mineral sector, which accounts, year in year out, for 75% of exports.

Guinea’s main industries come from its plentiful resources including 30% of the world’s bauxite deposits, iron ore, diamonds, gold, uranium, hydropower, alumina refining, rice, coffee, and timber production.

One of the world’s largest companies, BHP Billiton, has made large investments in the country through joint ventures with local organizations, seeing the country as an open market full of opportunities.

MAIN SECTORS AND INVESTMENT OPPORTUNITIES

MINING:

Richly endowed with minerals, Guinea possesses over 25 billion metric tons (MT) of bauxite – and perhaps up to one-half of the world's reserves. In addition, Guinea's mineral wealth includes more than 4-billion tons of high-grade iron ore, significant diamond and gold deposits, and undetermined quantities of uranium.

Joint venture bauxite mining and alumina operations in northwest Guinea historically provide about 80% of Guinea's foreign exchange. The Compagnie des Bauxites de Guinea (CBG) is the main player in the bauxite industry. CBG is a joint venture, in which 49% of the shares are owned by the Guinean Government and 51% by an international consortium led by Alcoa and Alcan. CBG exports about 14 million metric tons of high-grade bauxite every year. The Compagnie des Bauxites de Kindia (CBK), a joint venture between the Government of Guinea and Russki Alumina, produces some 2.5 million MT annually, nearly all of which is exported to Russia and Eastern Europe. Dian Dian, a Guinean/Ukrainian joint bauxite venture, has a projected production rate of 1 million MT per year, but is not expected to begin operations for several years. The Alumina Compagnie de Guinée (ACG), which took over the former Friguia Consortium, produced about 2.4 million tons of bauxite in 2004, which is used as raw material for its alumina refinery. The refinery supplies about 750,000 MT of alumina for export to world markets. Both Global Alumina and Alcoa-Alcan have signed conventions with the Government of Guinea to build large alumina refineries with a combined capacity of about 4 million MT per year.

Diamonds and gold also are mined and exported on a large scale. AREDOR, a joint diamond-mining venture between the Guinean Government (50%) and an Australian, British, and Swiss consortium, began production in 1984 and mined diamonds that are 90% gem quality. Production stopped from 1993 until 1996, when First City Mining of Canada purchased the international portion of the consortium. By far, most diamonds are mined artisanally. The largest gold mining operation in Guinea is a joint venture between the government and Ashanti Gold Fields of Ghana. SMD also has a large gold mining facility in Lero near the Malian border. Other concession agreements have been signed for iron ore, but these projects are still awaiting preliminary exploration and financing results.