Since independence, Guinea has chosen to cooperate with all its international partners, including Germany and France. French Development Agency (AFD), which has been operating in the country for 45 years now, has made a name for itself by financing energy and waste projects in Conakry. A look back at two flagship projects in these sectors.
45 years ago, French Development Agency (AFD) took its first steps in Guinea against a backdrop of political emancipation and major economic challenges. This cooperation had one mission: to give a new image to development financing, both in Conakry and in other towns in this West African country. The French institution seems to have made the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) its specific field of intervention.
It is helping Guineans to implement two flagship projects. The first is the construction of a technical landfill centre (CET) for solid waste at Baritodé in the rural commune of Kouria, worth €50 million. The facility, on which work began in 2023 and will continue until 2029, will be built on a 100-hectare site. It is a concrete response to the saturation of Conakry’s current landfill site, by sorting and recycling waste (into biogas and fertiliser) with a view to improving sanitation (SDG6).
The second flagship project supported by AFD focuses on SDG7, in particular energy for all. The group led by Rémy Rioux lent 50 million euros in 2019 to the Guinean government for the National Programme to Improve Access to Affordable Electricity. The loan has enabled the rehabilitation and construction of 20 km of mixed line and 87 km of low-voltage line, the construction of 43 630 kVA medium- and low-voltage substations, the completion of 20,000 connections and the installation of 20,000 prepayment meters.
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However, AFD is not the only dynamic development partner in the sub-region. Over the next few years, it will have to contend with the dynamism of the German Agency for International Development Cooperation (GIZ), the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) and the United States Agency for International Development (USAID). Other institutions are also taking on the challenge of financing the MDGs on the African continent.
Benoit-Ivan Wansi
