Rice-growing areas in Koba
Inauguration
of the interchange
With President Alpha Condé
Visit to Guinea
At the invitation of
President Alpha Condé, I made a visit to Guinea on 4 and 5 March.
This visit gave me the opportunity to sign an operations roadmap with
Mr. Kerfalla Yansané, Minister of the Economy and Finance. It sets
out the three main areas for AFD’s medium-term operations. We will
be further scaling up our operations in the rural development sector by
helping the country to rapidly achieve food self-sufficiency in rice.
We will also be supporting food crop production and certain export crops
and we will be promoting microfinance in rural areas. We will be making
new commitments in the energy sector, by continuing to support recovery
in the sector, particularly for its main operator, Electricité
de Guinée, and by promoting the implementation of hydropower investment
programs. Finally, we will be supporting development in the rail sector
in conjunction with major mining projects and in close coordination with
neighboring countries.
Two field visits confirmed the soundness of our operations in this country – the water tower of West Africa.
We went to the mangrove plains in Koba, Lower Guinea, 200 km from Conakry, to visit rice-growing areas. A simple technology rapidly doubles rice growers’ yields. The project provides them with higher incomes, gives young people an incentive to stay on their parents’ land and also preserves their natural capital. The original plot-based water management of this operation will be presented next week at the Village of Solutions at the 6th World Water Forum in Marseille.
Along with the Prime Minister and in the presence of numerous ministers, we inaugurated the traffic flow changeover to the new interchange. It has been built on Conakry’s main road and replaces the current 8th November Bridge. This infrastructure will have a real impact on the community because it will improve traffic flow in the capital.
During the audience he granted us, the President confirmed the need to implement policies that rapidly have an impact on the lives of the Guinean people, while paving the way for the future of the country by promoting its comparative advantages. Guinea is expected to reach completion point under the HIPC (Heavily Indebted Poor Countries) Initiative during the second half of 2012. This will give the authorities substantial room for manoeuvre thanks to the reduction in the debt burden.
Dov ZERAH
