"The key moment" for Spanish companies to know the potential of investing in Guinea (Conakry)

The Spanish Ambassador in the Republic of Guinea (Conakry), Guillermo Ardizone, explained today at Casa África, as part of a conference on business opportunities in the African country, that this is at a "key moment" of political and economic transition, where we are beginning to see future opportunities for Spanish companies in industries such as infrastructure, mining and agriculture. A few weeks before legislative elections that will shape the national parliament, the Ambassador explained that the Guinean government is taking very clear steps to pass economic legislation that opens the way to having a stable business environment which can be trusted.

Ardizone stated that the Republic of Guinea is still a large unknown for Spanish companies, despite some companies already investing there. In the same way, he said, even Spain and and its companies are not well known to Guinean  businesses and government, which requires work for mutual of knowledge, back and forth, which is now being undertaken.

The Ambassador made these statements together with the National Director of Debt and Aid of the Ministry of Economy and Finance of the Republic of Guinea, Diallo Saoudatou Sow, who told the media and entrepreneurs attending the conference that the country not only has "open arms" to the arrival of Spanish companies, but that they can also take advantage of countless opportunities that are emerging in the wake of the recent exploitation of natural resources in the country. "Geologists tell us that Guinea is a geological scandal" Sow Diallo said in reference to the country's potential mining and natural resources and said the government is trying to get all this potential to have an effect on improving Guinean infrastructures and in reducing poverty rates.

As the Spanish Ambassador explained, entrepreneurs must know that the country "does not start with easy conditions, but the authorities are well aware of the need to improve." There is much support from the World Bank to clarify the legal framework for business, with measures such as the development of a mining code, a one-stop business or tax code, among other things, that are occurring "at a fast pace" to improve the business climate, he said. The great challenge of the Guinean government, Ardizone added, "is now to put into practice all that, is effective and helps businesses to invest."

Regarding the role of the Canary Islands, Ardizone explained that its location as the nearest point of the EU to all West Africa makes it a strategic place for the entire region. In the presence of the Guinean authorities, he said, "We are constantly putting forward the example of World Food Programme's (WFP) logistics base in Las Palmas de Gran Canaria to show that the Archipelago is the perfect platform not only for companies and goods that come from America and Europe, but that African export companies should support the city as a hub for their products to the whole world."