Guinea Economy Facts

Economical overview

Guinea has plenty of natural resources and could be one of West Africa’s richest countries, but many years of political and economic mismanagement have hampered development. The official economy is largely built around mineral exports and the mining sector usually accounts for 70-90 percent of export income and a fifth or sixth of GDP. The dependence on aid is great.

After nearly two decades of good economic growth, the economy had deteriorated during the first years of the 21st century. This was due, among other things, to high global prices of imported goods such as food and oil, growing spending on foreign loans and declining aid as a result of Guinea’s difficulties in paying off its debts and the regime’s violation of human rights.

• Countryaah.com: Major imports by Guinea, covering a full list of top products imported by the country and trade value for each product category.

When Condé’s democratically elected government took power in 2011, the economy was in ruins. Juntan had printed new banknotes to meet its expenses, allowed over a third of the state budget to go to the military and squandered state money.

Condé’s government tightened its control over the state’s accounts and cut the budget deficits to the equivalent of 2.6 percent of GDP in 2013.

The economic reforms enabled Guinea to regain support from international lenders. The debt burden eased when debts were written off by several countries and after Guinea ended the IMF and the World Bank’s heavily indebted countries program. In addition, the poverty reduction program resumed with the IMF, which was canceled in connection with the military coup in 2008. In 2011, foreign debt amounted to more than $ 3 billion, two years later it had decreased to $ 846 million.

• Abbreviationfinder.org: Check this abbreviation website to find three letter ISO codes for all countries in the world, including GIN which represents the country of Guinea. Check findjobdescriptions to learn more about Guinea.

The economy gained momentum in the early 2010s and was helped by growing income from the mining industry. A slight decline in the growth rate was noticed in 2013 due to falling commodity prices on the world market and political turmoil (see Current policy). But the next two years, the economy was basically still, largely as a result of Ebola’s ravages in the country (see Social conditions). The costs for the care of the sick and the fight against the disease were a heavy expense item for the government, despite extensive crisis support, including from the IMF and the World Bank.

Guinea is estimated to have the world’s largest reserves of bauxite, constituting raw material for aluminum. The country also has good assets of iron ore, gold, diamonds, nickel, titanium and uranium and more. A number of foreign mining companies are active in the country. Both the junta, the transition board and the Condé government have tried to increase their income by negotiating the agreements with the mining companies and in the autumn of 2011 a new regulatory framework was introduced which would also give the state better transparency in mining operations.

Mining investments increased during the second half of the 00s despite the political turmoil, but dropped significantly a few years into the 2010s due to global price falls and difficulties in extracting large and abundant iron ore deposits in the southeast. The projects have been delayed due to disputes over extraction rights with foreign investors, where previous contracts are suspected to have been acquired with the help of bribes, and to uncertainty about how profitable they would be.

FACTS – FINANCE

GDP per person

US $ 885 (2018)

Total GDP

US $ 10 990 million (2018)

GDP growth

8.7 percent (2018)

Agriculture’s share of GDP

17.8 percent (2018)

Manufacturing industry’s share of GDP

10.0 percent (2018)

The service sector’s share of GDP

41.7 percent (2018)

Inflation

8.9 percent (2019)

Government debt’s share of GDP

38.2 percent (2018)

External debt

US $ 1,489 million (2017)

Currency

Guinea franc

Merchandise exports

US $ 3,978 million (2018)

Imports

US $ 3,386 million (2018)

Current account

– US $ 191 million (2018)

Commodity trade’s share of GDP

72 percent (2018)

Main export goods

bauxite, aluminum, gold

Largest trading partner

China, Netherlands, Spain, Belgium, India

2011

December

The parliamentary elections are moved forward

The parliamentary elections scheduled for December 29 are postponed indefinitely in the middle of the same month. The decision is seen as a way for the electoral commission, Ceni, to meet the opposition’s demand for greater transparency in the process of avoiding electoral fraud. New date is later set to July 8, 2012.

August

Reconciliation Commission is appointed

The President appoints a commission to present proposals on how reconciliation can be achieved between the country’s social and ethnic groups. The Commission will be jointly headed by the imam of Conakry’s Grand Mosque and the Roman Catholic Bishop of the capital.

July

Attacks against Condé

Shotgun breaks out at night at President Condé’s residence and a rocket hits the building. A soldier in the guard force is killed but the president escapes unharmed.

April

Concerns when Diallo returns to Guinea

Cellou Dalein Diallo, fearing for his safety, returns to Guinea after traveling abroad after the election. Authorities refuse to grant his supporters permission to demonstrate, yet large crowds close up to meet him at the airport. The security forces intervene and 4 people are killed.