Guinea-Conakry Outlines Mining, Hydrocarbons Strategy at African Energy Week (AEW) 2024 – Africa.com
Guinea – Conakry’s $20 billion Simandou 2040 national development roadmap underlines its commitment to becoming a global leader in iron ore production, aiming to capitalize on the country’s vast mineral wealth while promoting socio-economic growth across all sectors . At the same time, the country aims to advance oil and gas development supported by a robust petroleum system and a detailed inventory of seismic data.
Speaking at a technical session at this year’s Africa Energy Week (AEW): Africa Energy Investment Conference 2024, the country’s Ministry of Energy, Water and Hydrocarbons outlined Guinea Conakry’s plans to improve its competitiveness on the global mining stage. strategy.
“Guinea Conakry is known as the country with the richest iron ore reserves in the world,” added Abdourahim Barry, deputy national director for hydrocarbons at the Ministry of Energy, Water and Hydrocarbons. “The main sector driving our economy is mining, particularly our booming bauxite production. However, in the coming years we hope to become more competitive in the iron ore industry.”
The Simandou 2040 project will focus on four key development areas and will mine approximately 2 billion tonnes of iron ore from the Simandou mine, with first export expected in 2026. The project also involves the development of the 650-kilometre Trans-Guinea Railway, designed to connect the Simandou mine to Guinea’s Atlantic coast in Conakry. A deep-water port is also being developed to streamline export processes and strengthen the country’s global trade presence.
“The project will generate $3.5 billion in annual revenue starting in 2031,” Barry added.
The technical meeting also presented strategic forecasts for the hydrocarbons industry in Guinea Conakry. The country’s national oil agency, Sonatropolitan Petroleum Corporation (SONAP), announced that in addition to developing a hydrocarbon master plan, the government plans to spearhead onshore and offshore data reprocessing, drilling of onshore formations and local integration with regional data.
SONAP Upstream Director Mohamed Mansae said: “Guinea-Conakry has huge onshore potential,” adding, “We have over 15,000 kilometers2 3D data and 45,000 kilometers2 Two-dimensional data, by 2023, we discovered the presence of crude oil-type hydrocarbons based on 20 rock, soil and fluid samples. “
All 27 offshore blocks and 7 onshore blocks in Guinea-Conakry, located close to prominent hydrocarbon discoveries in Côte d’Ivoire, Senegal and Mauritania, are currently open for prospecting and prospecting.
Distributed by APO Group on behalf of the African Energy Chamber.
