Guinea: Investing

FDI in Figures

According to UNCTAD's World Investment Report 2021, FDI inflows into Guinea increased exponentially from USD 44 million to USD 325 million between 2019 and 2020, despite the global economic crisis triggered by the Covid-19 pandemic. The stock of FDI increased to USD 5.1 million in 2020. In 2021, global FDI flows rebounded strongly, but FDI flows to African countries (excluding South Africa) rose only moderately (UNCTAD’ Investment Trends Monitor). The mining sector attracts most foreign investment (the country has large reserves of iron ore, gold, diamonds and bauxite). In 2020, a consortium owned by Singaporean, Chinese and French investors, with a 10% stake held by the Guinean government, obtained a 25-year concession to develop the Simandou iron ore deposits, committing to invest USD 16 billion.

In the latest available World Bank's Doing Business report, Guinea lost four places and ranked 156th over 190 countries worldwide. The country has made paying taxes more costly by increasing the minimum flat tax (impôt minimum forfaitaire) paid by large companies. Nevertheless, it has reduced the corporate income tax rate and the minimum flat tax rate paid by small and medium-sized companies. The government aims to increase investments in several sectors, including agriculture (over 13 million hectares of arable land), energy (600MW potential in hydroelectricity), infrastructure, and tourism. Reforms adopted to improve the business climate include a reduction of property transfer fees from 2% to 1.2% of the property’s value, the creation of a single desk to register new businesses, reduction of the time required to secure a construction permit and improved import procedures. Besides these reforms, the country’s vast natural resources are also a major asset to attract investments. However, the latter are threatened by poor infrastructures, corruption, power supply issues, and a lack of skilled labour. Both foreigners and citizens have the right to own property and businesses, and are guaranteed the freedom to transfer the original foreign capital, profits resulting from investment, and capital gains on disposal of investment. However, enforcement of these rights depends on a corrupt and inefficient legal and administrative system. In fact, Guinea has lagged notably in promoting the effective rule of law: the judicial system remains vulnerable to political interference, property rights are not strongly protected and lingering corruption further undermines judicial effectiveness and government integrity (the country ranked 150th out of 180 in Transarency International's 2021 Corruption Perception Index).

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Latest Update: February 2023