Guinea-Bissau 2016 Country Review http://www.countrywatch.com Table of Contents Chapter 1 1 Country Overview 1 Country Overview 2 Key Data 4 Guinea-Bissau 5 Africa 6 Chapter 2 8 Political Overview 8 History 9 Political Conditions 10 Political Risk Index 40 Political Stability 54 Freedom Rankings 70 Human Rights 81 Government Functions 84 Government Structure 85 Principal Government Officials 90 Leader Biography 92 Leader Biography 92 Foreign Relations 95 National Security 99 Defense Forces 100 Chapter 3 102 Economic Overview 102 Economic Overview 103 Nominal GDP and Components 106 Population and GDP Per Capita 107 Real GDP and Inflation 108 Government Spending and Taxation 109 Money Supply, Interest Rates and Unemployment 110 Foreign Trade and the Exchange Rate 111 Data in US Dollars 112 Energy Consumption and Production Standard Units 113 Energy Consumption and Production QUADS 114 World Energy Price Summary 115 CO2 Emissions 116 Agriculture Consumption and Production 117 World Agriculture Pricing Summary 119 Metals Consumption and Production 120 World Metals Pricing Summary 122 Economic Performance Index 123 Chapter 4 135 Investment Overview 135 Foreign Investment Climate 136 Foreign Investment Index 138 Corruption Perceptions Index 151 Competitiveness Ranking 163 Taxation 172 Stock Market 173 Partner Links 173 Chapter 5 175 Social Overview 175 People 176 Human Development Index 177 Life Satisfaction Index 181 Happy Planet Index 192 Status of Women 201 Global Gender Gap Index 204 Culture and Arts 214 Etiquette 214 Travel Information 214 Diseases/Health Data 223 Chapter 6 229 Environmental Overview 229 Environmental Issues 230 Environmental Policy 230 Greenhouse Gas Ranking 231 Global Environmental Snapshot 243 Global Environmental Concepts 254 International Environmental Agreements and Associations 268 Appendices 292 Bibliography 293 Guinea‐Bissau Chapter 1 Country Overview Guinea‐Bissau Review 2016 Page 1 of 305 pages Guinea‐Bissau Country Overview GUINEA-BISSAU Since gaining independence from Portugal in 1974, Guinea-Bissau has been subject to considerable political instability. This political climate combined with mismanagement have contributed to a poor economy, and Guinea-Bissau holding the dubious distinction of being one of the most impoverished countries in the world. It has also become a major hub for the trafficking of narcotics from Latin America to Europe. In 1980, a military coup d'etat established authoritarian dictator Joao Bernardo 'Nino' Vieira as president. Several coup attempts through the 1980s and early 1990s failed to unseat him, and in 1994 Vieira was elected president in the country's first free elections. But four years later he was ousted from office following his decision to dismiss his army chief. The scenario triggered something of a civil war, which eventually ended thanks to foreign mediation, an ensuing truce, and elections in January 2000. The next month saw the transitional government turning over power to opposition leader Kumba Yala following two rounds of transparent presidential elections. In September 2003, after only three years in office, Yala was ousted by the military in a bloodless coup, and businessman Henrique Rosa was sworn in as interim president. Former President Vieira was re-elected president in 2005. By 2008, the country had devolved into a state of alarming instability once again including a gun attack on the president himself and an attempted overthrow of the president. To that end, in 2008, the country successfully thwarted an attempted coup d'etat by Rear Admiral Jose Americo Bubo Na Tchuto, who would later resurface as a player in the political instability unfolding in 2010 and again in 2011. In the meanwhile, March 2009 saw the assassination of President Vieira. Ultimately, Malam Bacai Sanha won the June 2009 presidential election and the July runoff, thus taking power as the new head of state. Several presidential contenders were assassinated or threatened in the period leading up to that election. In 2012, attention was on forthcoming elections to determine who would succeed President Sanha, who had died in Paris of medical complications at the start of the year. In the interim, the country was under the leadership of Raimundo Pereira, the speaker of the parliament in conformity with the Constitution. The first round of the anticipated elections was held in March 2012 and was headed to a runoff, or second round, when the democratic process was short-circuited by a Guinea‐Bissau Review 2016 Page 2 of 305 pages Guinea‐Bissau military coup in April 2012 and the installation of a junta at the helm of government. In the aftermath of that coup that deposed the government, an agreement was reached between ECOWAS mediators and the military junta to name Manuel Sherifo Nhamadjo as the transitional president at the helm of the country for a one-year term. The transitional government has scheduled a presidential election for late 2013 with new election date subsequently set for 2014. Those elections were won by President Josse Mario Vaz who became the country's new president. Note: Guinea-Bissau has never had an elected president finish his term in office since the introduction of multi-party elections in 1994. Guinea‐Bissau Review 2016 Page 3 of 305 pages Guinea‐Bissau Key Data Key Data Region: Africa Population: 1726170 Tropical; generally hot and humid with monsoon-like rainy season and a dry Climate: season with harmattan winds Portuguese (Official) Languages: Criolo Indigenous Languages Currency: CFA franc Independence Day is 10 September (1974) {it is celebrated on 24 Holiday: September}, Colonization Martyr's Day is 3 August Area Total: 36120 Area Land: 28000 Coast Line: 350 Guinea‐Bissau Review 2016 Page 4 of 305 pages Guinea‐Bissau Guinea-Bissau Country Map Guinea‐Bissau Review 2016 Page 5 of 305 pages Guinea‐Bissau Africa Regional Map Guinea‐Bissau Review 2016 Page 6 of 305 pages Guinea‐Bissau Guinea‐Bissau Review 2016 Page 7 of 305 pages Guinea‐Bissau Chapter 2 Political Overview Guinea‐Bissau Review 2016 Page 8 of 305 pages Guinea‐Bissau History The rivers of Guinea and the Cape Verde islands were among the first areas in Africa explored by the Portuguese in the 15th century. Portugal claimed Portuguese Guinea in 1446, but few trading posts were established before 1600. In 1630, a "captaincy-general" of Portuguese Guinea was established to administer the territory. With the cooperation of self-seeking local leadership, the Portuguese entered the slave trade and exported large numbers of Africans to the Western Hemisphere via the Cape Verde Islands. Cacheu became one of the major slaving centers (a small fort still stands in the town). The slave trade declined in the 19th century, and Bissau, originally founded as a military and slave-trading center in 1765, grew to become the major commercial center. Portuguese conquest and consolidation of the interior did not begin until the latter half of the 19th century. Portugal lost part of Guinea to French West Africa (including the center of earlier Portuguese commercial interest, the Casamance River region). A dispute with Great Britain over the island of Bolama was settled in Portugal's favor with the involvement of United States President Ulysses S. Grant. Before World War I, Portuguese forces under Maj. Teixeira Pinto, with some assistance from the Muslim population, subdued animist tribes and eventually established the territory's borders. The interior of Portuguese Guinea was brought under control after more than 30 years of fighting; final subjugation of the Bijagos Islands did not occur until 1936. The administrative capital was moved from Bolama to Bissau in 1941, and in 1952, by constitutional amendment, the colony of Portuguese Guinea became an overseas province of Portugal. In 1956, Amilcar Cabral and Raphael Barbosa organized the African Party for the Independence of Guinea and Cape Verde, or PAIGC, clandestinely. The PAIGC moved its headquarters to Conakry, Guinea in 1960 and started an armed rebellion against the Portuguese in 1961. Despite the presence of Portuguese troops, a contingent that grew to more than 35,000, the PAIGC steadily expanded its influence, and by 1968 it controlled most of the country. It established civilian rule in the territory under its control and held elections for a National Assembly. Portuguese forces and civilians increasingly were confined to their garrisons and larger towns. The Portuguese Guinea‐Bissau Review 2016 Page 9 of 305 pages Guinea‐Bissau governor and commander in chief from 1968 to 1973, Gen. Antonio de Spinola, returned to Portugal and led the movement that brought democracy to Portugal and independence for its colonies. Amilcar Cabral was assassinated in Conakry in 1973, and party leadership fell to Aristides Pereira, who later became the first president of the Republic of Cape Verde. The PAIGC National Assembly met at Boe in the southeastern region and declared the independence of Guinea-Bissau on Sept. 24, 1973. Portugal, following its April 1974 revolution, granted independence to Guinea- Bissau on Sept. 10, 1974. Luis Cabral, Amilcar Cabral's half-brother, became president of Guinea- Bissau. Supplementary sources: United States (U.S.) State Department, Reliefweb and the United States Institute of Peace Library, Peace Agreements Digital Collection. Note on History: In certain entries, open source content from the State Department Background Notes and Country Guides have been used. A full listing of sources is available in the Bibliography. Political Conditions 1980-1999 In late 1980, the government was overthrown in a relatively bloodless coup led by Joao Bernardo Vieira, the prime minister and former armed forces commander. From November 1980 to May 1984, a provisional government held power, responsible to a revolutionary council headed by President Joao Bernardo Vieira. In 1984, the council was dissolved, and the 150-member "Assembleia Nacional Popular" (National Popular Assembly or ANP) was reconstituted. The single-party assembly approved a new constitution; elected President Vieira to a new five-year term; and elected the Council of State, the executive agent of the ANP.