GS_Communique_Guinea.pdf
At a joint press conference in Conakry on 1 March, the newly elected president of Guinea, Alpha Conde, and George Soros, founder of the Open Society Foundations, announced that the country's forthcoming mining code will be committed to the principles of the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative and will target industry corruption and bribery.
Soros was in the country at President Conde's invitation to discuss a host of development issues, including mining sector reform, along with economist and scholar Paul Collier and Revenue Watch Legal Advisor Patrick Heller.
President Conde said that the new mining code will punish companies attempting to bribe Guinean officials or those proven to have committed bribery in the past.
The new code will enact stronger oversight mechanisms that reduce discretion and the risk of corruption in contract awards.
The Revenue Watch Institute will provide legal advice as Guinea finalizes its new code, and will work with the International Senior Lawyers Project to help the government conduct a thorough review of existing mining contracts.
"By enshrining a commitment to revenue transparency and an accountable and rule-based process for contract award, the new mining code can demonstrate to Guinea's citizens and the international business community that the country is heading toward a new era of mining-sector management," said Revenue Watch Legal Advisor Patrick Heller.
Guinea's mining sector, which includes bauxite, iron and gold, accounts for more than 60% of the nation's exports. Despite this natural wealth, 40 percent of the country lives below the poverty line, and revenues from the mineral sector have not aided development or improved living conditions for the average citizen in the 50 years since Guinean independence. In recent years, political turmoil in Guinea deepened concerns about corruption and embezzlement in the mining sector, and activists campaigning for political change became targets of violent repression at the hands of the military government. The 2010 election of President Conde represented Guinea's transition to civilian rule.
"Guinea is currently experiencing a new era," said George Soros. "Its natural resources have in the past not been used to benefit the people. Guinea now has an opportunity to change this."
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