Photo source : x.com/citymirrorKE Colonel Mamady Doumbouya
CONAKRY, Guinea – 18 May 2025
Crackdown on Dormant and Underutilized Mining Assets
Guinea’s military-led government has withdrawn 51 mining licences as part of a sweeping effort to retake control of dormant or underutilized mining assets, the country’s information minister confirmed this week. The move comes amid broader efforts by the ruling junta to consolidate resource management and enforce stricter oversight of foreign and domestic mining operations.
The government cited the failure to begin operations or the inefficient use of existing permits as grounds for the revocations. This initiative marks a more aggressive approach by the military administration to enforce compliance in one of the country’s most critical economic sectors.
Guinea is home to the world’s largest reserves of bauxite, a key mineral used in aluminium production. Despite its mineral wealth, the country has struggled to translate natural resource potential into sustained development due to infrastructural weaknesses and governance challenges.
The mining licence revocations come under the leadership of Colonel Mamady Doumbouya, who seized power in a coup d’état on September 5, 2021. A former French legionnaire and head of Guinea’s Special Forces Group, Doumbouya ousted President Alpha Condé—Guinea’s first democratically elected leader—citing widespread corruption and misgovernance.
On October 1, 2021, Doumbouya was sworn in as interim president. He initially promised a two-year transition to democratic elections, a pledge that remained unfulfilled until recently when the junta announced plans to hold elections in December 2025.
Human Rights Concerns Under the Junta
Since taking power, Doumbouya’s government has faced sharp criticism from rights groups and the international community over alleged crackdowns on dissent. Reports have surfaced of forced disappearances of activists and journalists, including Foniké Menguè and Habib Habib Marouane Camara, raising alarm over growing repression.
These developments mirror broader trends in West Africa, where several countries—including Mali, Burkina Faso, and Niger—have experienced military takeovers since 2020, eroding democratic gains in the region. Despite the manner in which the leaders took power they have taken aggressive actions in enforcing Africa’s political , economic and military sovereignty and ownership of mineral wealth, breaking entrenched colonial economic patterns that kept the citizens of Africa poor and dependent on Western aid while corporations produce large profits for investors.
Guinea, officially the Republic of Guinea, gained independence from France in 1958 and has experienced repeated cycles of military and authoritarian rule. It held its first democratic elections in 2010, sparking hopes for a new political chapter. However, persistent ethnic conflicts, widespread corruption, and recurring human rights abuses have hampered democratic progress.
Despite these challenges, Guinea’s vast mineral reserves remain a source of strategic interest to international investors. The government’s recent actions signal a determination to tighten control over this key sector—though at a time when political uncertainty and governance concerns remain high.
