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Introduction

The USAID development assistance program in Guinea is directed at obtaining sustainable results in natural resources management, health, education, and democracy and governance. These program activities serve U.S. national interests in the areas of regional stability, democracy, humanitarian assistance, environmental stability and economic growth. The U.S. interest in supporting Guinea's development is based on the country's role as a positive and stabilizing force in the region. Besides supplying troops for the U.S.-supported peacekeeping efforts in Sierra Leone and Guinea Bissau, Guinea is accommodating the largest refugee population in Africa, primarily from Liberia and Sierra Leone. Rich in mineral resources and agricultural potential, Guinea will also provide investment opportunities for U.S. investors attracted by the success of its ongoing economic and political reforms.

The Development Challenge

Guinea's human resource base and domestic economy are still recovering from twenty-six years of Sekou Toure's rule. Under his regime, civil society and the private sector were suppressed, a prosperous agriculture sector was devastated, the judicial system atrophied, and essential social services and infrastructure collapsed. State central planning destroyed the economy. The current government has, however, undertaken a program of continuous political and economic reforms. This program liberalized the economy, restrained public sector spending, controlled inflation, and stabilized the exchange rate.

For the past seven years Guinea has achieved increases in agricultural production but, without improved natural resource management, this growth cannot be sustained. In addition, several hundred thousand-refugee farmers from Sierra Leone and Liberia have settled in a previously sparsely populated region containing some of the few remaining West African tropical forests. This has worsened the environmental threat to the already stressed and fragile forest ecosystem. Guinea's economic performance is also being adversely affected by the significant costs incurred by maintaining security at its borders, assisting international peace-keeping efforts in Sierra Leone and Guinea Bissau, and sheltering 500,000 refugees.

In contrast to the instability in neighboring countries, Guinea has made significant albeit fragile, progress toward building a democratic society. In December 1998, Guinea held peaceful, multi-party, presidential elections, the second in the country's history. These elections, in conjunction with the 1995 legislative elections, constitute a significant step forward in Guinea's democratic process. With strong donor support, the GOG created a broad-based Electoral Council to supervise the presidential election. Guinea will continue to require strong support from USAID and the donors to strengthen its nascent democratic institutions and to narrow the gap which exists between its laws and the reality of politics and administration. The democracy and governance program will work with the government and civil society to create genuine democratic institutions.

Without a much stronger human resource base, economic growth and democratization cannot be sustained. For this reason, USAID is making a concerted effort to build up that human resource base capacity within its basic education, natural resource management, democracy and governance, and health and family planning activities. Taking into consideration the low base from which Guinea started and the current positive trend toward economic liberalization and democratization, Guinea is positioned to become a strong partner.

Other Donors

In 1998, Guinea's largest bilateral donor was France ($51 million), followed by the United States ($19 million), Canada ($10 million), and Saudi Arabia ($10 million). Japan was the fifth largest donor ($9 million). Among the multilateral donors, the World Bank ($53 million), the European Development Fund ($45 million), other U.N. Agencies ($41 million), and the IMF ($32 million) are among the leaders.

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