Guinea-Bissau Economy Facts
Economical overview
Guinea-Bissau’s most important industry is agriculture, but most of the residents grow mostly for their own use. The export sector is small and is almost entirely dominated by cashews, which makes the country vulnerable to variations in world market prices. The state receives a significant portion of its revenues from the sale of fishing licenses, primarily to the EU.
Guinea-Bissau’s most important industry is agriculture, but most of the residents grow mostly for their own use. The export sector is small and is almost entirely dominated by cashews, which makes the country vulnerable to variations in world market prices. The state receives a significant portion of its revenues from the sale of fishing licenses, primarily to the EU.
- Countryaah.com: Major imports by Guinea-Bissau, covering a full list of top products imported by the country and trade value for each product category.
- Abbreviationfinder.org: Check this abbreviation website to find three letter ISO codes for all countries in the world, including GNB which represents the country of Guinea-Bissau. Check findjobdescriptions to learn more about Guinea-Bissau.
FACTS – FINANCE
GDP per person
US $ 778 (2018)
Total GDP
US $ 1,458 million (2018)
GDP growth
3.8 percent (2018)
Agriculture’s share of GDP
47.5 percent (2018)
Manufacturing industry’s share of GDP
10.5 percent (2018)
The service sector’s share of GDP
34.8 percent (2018)
Inflation
-2.6 percent (2019)
Government debt’s share of GDP
64.3 percent (2018)
External debt
US $ 328 million (2017)
Currency
West African Franc
Merchandise exports
US $ 339 million (2017)
Imports
US $ 291 million (2017)
Current account
US $ 4 million (2017)
Commodity trade’s share of GDP
46 percent (2018)
Main export goods
cashews, fruits, crude oil, fish
Largest trading partner
India, Portugal, Singapore, Vietnam
2016
December
New government takes office
December 12
Umaro Sissoco’s new government takes office. It consists of 37 members, of which 4 are women. Most of the ministers also sat in Djá’s government.
November
PAIGC refuses to participate in the new government
November 28
The political crisis in Guinea-Bissau continues. PAIGC refuses to cooperate with Umaro Sissoco. It is therefore unclear if he can get the National Assembly to approve a budget, which risks dropping it at an early stage.
The president appoints a new head of government
November 18
President Vaz appoints Umaro Sissoco Embalo as new Prime Minister. He is not a well-known name, but he has been an adviser to several presidents.
The President dissolves the government
November 14
President Vaz dissolves the government in a new attempt to emerge from the political crisis. The latest lock-ups are that several PAIGC members in the National Assembly refuse to cooperate with Prime Minister Djá.
Ecowas wants to speed up conflict resolution
November 5
A delegation from Ecowas, led by Liberian President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, calls on the Bissau parties to fulfill all parts of the road map they have agreed upon. This includes appointing a new prime minister and government and getting Parliament to approve its program. At the same time, a demonstration is being held demanding that President Vaz resign and that new elections are held. Kravall police intervened to stop the protesters.
October
Strike closes schools
October 11
Teachers in almost the entire country go on strike against the fact that no salaries have been paid for several months.
Former Navy commander is sentenced to four years in prison in the United States
October 6
Former Navy chief Bubo Na Tchuto is sentenced in the US to four years in prison for drug smuggling. He must have pleaded guilty to a point in the indictment. Since he has been in custody since 2013, he is expected to be released in April 2017 and then deported to his home country.
September
Roadmap should solve political deadlock
11 September
Ecowas mediators say the parties have now agreed on how to proceed to resolve the political deadlock. An important point in the “road map” is that a “cooperative government” will be formed, which will be assigned to govern the country for two years. However, there is no mention of when to appoint the government, or to continue with the defense reform or change the constitution.
August
Troop strength remains one more year
August 15th
A senior Ecowas representative announces that the soldiers are scheduled to leave the country in August 2017, after having been in the country for five years (see also Foreign Policy and Defense).
June
New government ready
June 8
The security challenge is great when Baciro Djá’s new ministers, 31, swear the oath of the presidential palace in Bissau. The former ministers of the Correia government, however, refuse to leave the largest government building.
May
Correia accuses the president of carrying out a constitutional coup
May 27th
PAIGC says the party does not intend to approve the new prime minister. Outside the presidential palace, PAIGC supporters are protesting the nomination and throwing stones at the security forces. A police chief says he has been ordered to shoot everyone who took the step into the palace area itself.
New Prime Minister
May 26
The President appoints Baciro Djá as new Prime Minister. This is done with the support of the PRS and the 15 re-elected MPs, who now have a majority in the National Assembly. Djá was also head of government for a short period in 2015 (see August-September 2015). The president has previously rejected PAIGC’s proposal for a new head of government. Vaz should have been able to push through the shift at the Prime Minister’s post with the support of Army Chief Biague Nantan. Even the influential businessman Braima Camará, who in 2014 competed with Domingos Simões Pereira for the PAIGC chair, is believed to have had a finger in the game.
The President dismisses the government
May 12
Vaz requires PAIGC to appoint a new cabinet to remove the country from the political crisis. He says Correia has failed to get the government to work, and get the government program adopted by the National Assembly. Assessors interpret it as a new attempt by the president, which is fairly isolated within his party, to strengthen his influence.
Returns parliamentary seats
May 2
The 15 excluded members of parliament, including Baciro Djá, regain their seats following a ruling in the Supreme Court.
January
15 of PAIGC’s MPs are excluded from the party
This is done on January 20, since the month before they made joint agreement with the opposition party PRS and cast their votes when Parliament would approve Prime Minister Correia’s bill on transport and schools. They then claimed that they felt that the government was wasting money on the state.
This meant that the proposals were rejected, and if it happens a second time, the government must resign.
The Government Party is now trying to get the 15 members replaced, but in order to do so, the measure must be approved by the Supreme Court.
