Simandou: Can Guinea avoid the resource-curse trap?

On 21 July, at a shipyard in Yangzhou, China, a brand-new cargo vessel was named to cheers from a handful of Guinean and Chinese officials. Some 215 metres long, with the capacity to swallow 40,000 tonnes of iron ore in a matter of hours, it is a steel giant fresh out of the China State Shipbuilding Corporation (CSSC) yards. Its name, though, comes from elsewhere: Wontanara ‘we are together‘, in Susu). On board for its maiden voyage to Conakry was the very first cohort of Guinean sailors trained in China.

    boom factor
                

    # Simandou: Can Guinea avoid the resource-curse trap?

    With the mega iron-ore deposit at Simandou now in production, Guinea is posting one of the most dynamic growth rates on the continent. Even so, the country still has to turn this windfall into an engine of sustainable development. No easy task.