World Bank Vice President for Western and Central Africa Ousmane Diagana urged Guinea to funnel Simandou proceeds into broad-based growth. "The question we must ask ourselves is not just how much ore Guinea will export, but how many jobs, investments and new economic opportunities Simandou will help create," he said in Conakry on Monday, calling the project "a historic opportunity" and "a potential economic turning point for Guinea."
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Simandou began producing in November, and Guinea exported 6.8 million tons of iron ore over the first six months of this year. The first pair of deposits are under the Baowu Winning Consortium Simandou, backed by Chinese firms that include China Baowu Steel Group. The third and fourth deposits are held by London-based Rio Tinto Plc alongside Aluminum Corp. of China, known as Chinalco. The government of Guinea owns a 15% interest in each of the mining entities, plus a separate 15% holding in the company that operates the railway and port infrastructure.
Diagana spoke at a ceremony finalizing $320.8 million in support focused on projects in farming, energy and tax administration. It forms part of a new $3 billion country program for 2027-33 and aligns with Guinea's Simandou 2040 national development plan; the plan targets $300 billion in cross-sector investment, with completion slated for the close of the next decade. According to the International Monetary Fund, the mining surge is expected to raise Guinea's growth to 8.7% this year and 9.3% next year, up from 6.7% in 2025. The World Bank estimates unemployment at 5.2% and poverty at 33% in 2025, underscoring the need to turn headline growth into broader gains.
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