Mineral Refining, Guinea

Public-private development partnership to support industrial skills development in Guinea’s mineral refining sector - Accelerate skills development to meet the needs of Guinea’s alumina industry

PROJECT DURATION

June 2024-May 2025

GEOGRAPHIC COVERAGE

Guinea (Conakry)

SECTOR

Critical raw materials – Bauxite/alumina industry

About

Guinea possesses significant bauxite reserves, representing one-third of the world’s total. Bauxite is refined into alumina, which is then smelted into primary aluminum. Bauxite and alumina are considered critical raw materials by the European Union and the United States.

The mining sector plays a key role in Guinea’s economy, mainly through the export of raw materials. Local content policies are designed to promote local employment in bauxite refining. However, the country faces a shortage of skilled labor, particularly in alumina-related professions.

On March 21, 2024, General Mamadi Doumbouya, President of the Republic of Guinea, announced through a presidential decree that the Alteo Alumina group’s alumina refinery project, Alteo Refinery Guinea (ARG), was recognized as being of National Interest.

On June 24, 2024, the Government of Guinea, the French group ALTEO Alumina and the United Nations Industrial Development Organisation (UNIDO) signed a public-private development partnership (PPDP) aimed at accelerating skills development to strengthen the bauxite and alumina industry in Guinea. This partnership is a core driver of Alteo’s alumina refinery (ARG) project to build an alumina refinery in the Boke region. The aim is to foster, through the transfer of skills, the emergence of a highly qualified workforce in Guinea, thereby supporting the national bauxite value addition strategy and creating a local bauxite refining industry. This partnership underlines Alteo’s commitment to sustainable development and economic growth in Guinea, ensuring that the local community benefits directly from the refinery project, through the support of local and national authorities towards sustainable development and UNIDO’s expertise in this field.