CONAKRY :
The Guinean government, the French group ALTEO Alumina and the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) have 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 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.
This PPDP is central to Guinea’s national strategy for advancing the bauxite value chain.
On March 21, 2024, General Mamadi Doumbouya, President of the Republic of Guinea, announced through a presidential decree that the Alteo Refinery Guinea (ARG) project, was of national interest.
UNIDO’s PPDP involves several Guinean ministries: the Ministry of Technical Education, Vocational Training and Employment, the Ministry of Higher Education, Scientific Research and Innovation, the Ministry of Mines and Geology, and the Ministry of Commerce, Industry and Small and Medium Enterprises. UNIDO and the Alteo Group will act as technical partners to the Guinean Government.
They will work together to strengthen the national skills development system, notably through the establishment of the future Conakry Alumina Training School (Ecole de Formation pour les métiers de l’Alumine à Conakry, EFAC) and working towards its sustainability.
The first phase of the project design will be dedicated to a political economy analysis to better understand the actors and interests that shape skills development for value addition in Guinea’s mining sector. This phase, which is expected to last 12 months, is funded by the Alteo Alumina group. ▪︎