ENERGY COUNTRYGuinea REVIEW

keyfactsenergy.com Country Review Guinea

Guinea, or Guinea-Conakry (the Republic of Guinea) is bordered by Guinea-Bissau, Senegal and (north), and Sierra Leone, Liberia and Côte D’Ivoire (south). The Atlantic Ocean forms its western border.

Guinea lay on the edge of a series of African empires. The Ghana Empire, established in 300 AD northeast of Guinea, was replaced by the Sosso kingdom in the 12th century. Mandinka Muslims of the then ruled from 1235 until the 1500s when split into small kingdoms. Fulani Muslims settled in central Guinea from 1735 and the Wassoulou Empire flourished from 1878 in upper Guinea. The French began to conquer the area in the 19th century culminating in the defeat of the Wassoulou in 1898.

France then negotiated boundaries with the UK and Portugal, forming the Territory of Guinea within French West Africa, and run from Dakar. In 1958, as the French Empire collapsed after World War 2, Guinea voted for independence. The country became socialist and was governed by several autocratic rulers. Although free elections were held in 2010, political violence continues. In 2014 and 2015 the Ebola virus caused considerable hardship. Guinea's economy is largely dependent on agriculture and mineral production, especially bauxite.

Geography and Oil & Gas background

Guinea is a mountainous, forested country on the east and low- lying on the west near the coast. Its highlands are the source for the Niger, Gambia, and Senegal Rivers. The highest point is Mount Nimba at 1,752 m.

Country Facts

Official name: République de Guinee Government: Republic Area: 94,927 sq mi (245,861 sq km) Population: 13,168,918 (2018) Capital: Conakry Currency: Guinean franc Languages: French (official), native tongues (Malinké, Susu, Fulani) Religions: Islam 85%, Christian 8%, indigenous 7% Country code: +224 Country Review Guinea

Government Geologically, Guinea is underlain by the Archaean West African craton with a partial cover of Proterozoic metasedments and Guinea’s President is directly volcanics. In the east green stone belts hold significant gold and elected for a 5-year term and iron ore reserves whilst weathering in the river valleys has led to is head of state and head of the formation of large bauxite deposits. In the northwest the government, appointing a 25- Paleozoic Bove Basin forms a thick sedimentary succession over member council of ministers. the basement and extends offshore. The unicameral 114-member National Assembly is the Although onshore seeps have been recognised, Guinea has elected legislative body. The limited potential for oil and gas. Some exploration is being President derives support from conducted in the onshore coastal region of the Bove basin. the Mandinka ethnic group, Offshore, Guinea’s first deep water well, Sabu-1 at 760 metres, whilst the opposition is backed was spudded in 2011. Deep water prospects could perhaps be by the Fula ethnic group. analogues to discoveries in the Liberian Basin in neighbouring The National Office of Sierra Leone and in Senegal to the north, within the passive Petroleum of Guinea (ONAP) margin basins created during and after opening of the Atlantic oversees the industry under Ocean. the auspices of The Ministry of Mines and Geology, which However, due to the high risk and lack of exploration drilling, it is responsible for petroleum is currently forecast that no commercial oil or gas production will exploration, development and be achieved in Guinea in the short and medium term either production of oil and gas. offshore or onshore.

Source: GlobalShift Source: GlobalShift