Electricity supply boost will light up power struggle in Guinea

As generators hum into action and power cuts intensify during the dry season, it seems hard to believe that providing electricity to the population in Conakry and other urban centres will be a major selling point when, as is widely expected, President Alpha Condé launches his campaign to win a third term in 2020. But the pace of recent generation and transmission projects supports the view of many Conakry residents that ‘power is coming’. This is reflected in an upturn in business for the local agent of Turkish company Arçelik’s Beko brand and other white goods suppliers, offering fridges and other goods to consumers who do not yet have stable electricity supply but expect it to come very soon.