Guinea

Background

Independent from France since 1958, Guinea did not hold democratic elections until 1993 when Gen. Lansana CONTE (head of the military government) was elected president of the civilian government. He was reelected in 1998. Unrest in Sierra Leone has spilled over into Guinea, threatening stability and creating a humanitarian emergency.

Guinea possesses major mineral, hydropower, and agricultural resources, yet remains an underdeveloped nation. The country possesses over 30% of the world's bauxite reserves and is the second largest bauxite producer. The mining sector accounted for about 75% of exports in 1999. Long-run improvements in government fiscal arrangements, literacy, and the legal framework are needed if the country is to move out of poverty. The government made encouraging progress in budget management in 1997-99, and reform progress was praised in the World Bank/IMF October 2000 assessment. However, escalating fighting along the Sierra Leonean and Liberian borders has caused major economic disruptions. In addition to direct defense costs, the violence has led to a sharp decline in investor confidence. Foreign mining companies have reduced expatriate staff, while panic buying has created food shortages and inflation in local markets. Multilateral aid - including Heavily Indebted Poor Countries (HIPC) debt relief - and single digit inflation should permit 5% growth in 2002.

Holidays

Ps: Muslim festivals(*) are timed according to local sightings of various phases of the moon and the dates given above are approximations. Besides, the Festivals' dates (~) are also subject to change in every year. 

Phone Codes

Country Code: 224

Resources

Market Research

CIA - The World Factbook - Republic of Guinea
This website indicates a wide range of detail information about Guinea by introducing under 8 different fields as its geography, people, government, economy, communications, transportation, military, transnational issues.

About Guinea
There is available to find out Guinea's general outlook on the issues of its social and business profile, passport/visa, money, accommodation, government, duty free, health and so forth.

The Canadian Trade Commissioner Service - Republic of Guinea
Canadian InfoExport Service provides information about doing business in the Republic of Guinea within the business practices.

Guinea Business Links
There is Guinean gateway which enables to get comprehensive information about business environment, tourism and so forth in Guinea.

World Bank Group - The Reports on Guinea
World Bank represents the analysis on the poverty, labor and solidarity on the Republic of Guinea in order to display the economic profile of Guinea in details.

U.S. Department of State - Bureau of Consular Affairs - For Republic of Guinea
U.S. Bureau of Consular Affairs creates a wide range of research named as Consular Information Sheet about Guinea in terms of analyzing its social, political, cultural & economic environments.

US Commercial Service - Guinea
The US Commercial Service in Guinea offers valuable assistance and services to US companies doing business in Guinea.

UK Trade & Investment - Guinea
UK Trade & Investment is the Government organisation that supports both UK companies trading internationally and overseas enterprises seeking to locate in the UK.

World Trade Organization(WTO) : Guinea
World Trade Organization(WTO) supplies the trade policy reviews of republic of Guinea in order to display the recent economic and business developments realized after introducing the economic improvement packages by WTO.

Trade Information

Guinea Chamber of Commerce
There is available to get information about Guinea Chamber of Commerce's contact address.

Embassy Listings For Guinea
There is listed the embassies of the republic of the Guinea including the embassies' contact information.

Guinea Government
It displays the structure of Guinean government by looking at its political units, branches, ministries, embassies and so forth in details.