Amid a deteriorating political situation, President Alpha Condé’s government has been counting on a $20bn Chinese infrastructure investment-for-minerals package, linked to Simandou and other projects, to herald a better future ahead of elections in 2020. But Rio Tinto’s late October decision to lapse its 2016 agreement for Aluminium Corporation of China (Chinalco) to take over its stake in the Simandou iron ore project has underlined the challenges in implementing Conakry’s hoped-for minerals-financed infrastructure boom.
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