Conakry — For many citizens of Kamsar and Sangaredi, two cities about two hundred miles north of the capital Conakry in the West African nation of Guinea, bauxite mining has always been the business of government and of multinationals.
Market analysts estimate that Guinea is endowed with an estimated 25 billion metric tons of bauxite, accounting for at least a third of known world reserves. Guinea's bauxite supplies nearly 50 percent of U.S. and Canadian imports.
Local populations, however, largely have been ignored in the planning and execution of projects that have yielded billions of dollars since the beginning of bauxite exploitation in the mid-1970s in Guinea, the world's second largest bauxite producer after Australia.
During a recent site visit by a delegation from the United States Congress-funded African Development Foundation (ADF), headed by the president, Nate Fields, feedback from grassroots residents suggested that a new era in bauxite mining has emerged in Guinea, thanks to the participatory approach being developed by Guinea Aluminum Corporation, a subsidiary of Global Alumina, a Canadian-registered company with operational headquarters in New York.
The company's estimated outlay of U.S.$2.3 billion dollars to build a refinery for processing bauxite into alumina for export to world markets is the largest foreign direct investment to date in Guinea
In Kamsar, where the delegation visited the construction site for the new port, Mamadou Barry, a 57-year-old man dressed in a traditional green costume with a large straw-hat and sunglasses protecting him from the hot October sunshine, says: "I have lived here all my life. I have seen and heard about a number of projects. Until Global Alumina began to develop its project, nobody had ever asked me my opinion, let alone proposed a job for me and my children".
Mamady Youla, Guinea Aluminum Corporation's director general, explains that the company, as a matter of policy, chose to involve local populations in the planning and construction of the new installations. "We could have brought here bulldozers and other mechanical engines to clean the area in two weeks," he said. "However, we preferred to give a chance to those who wanted to earn some money. We hired over 300 people and the job was done in four months".
When the ADF delegation arrived in Sangaredi, it was welcomed by Martina Fabri Forget, a Canadian sociologist who worked for many years in mining projects in South America and Asia. She was hired by Global Alumina to help organize nineteen villages located around the mine to deal with the changes that will affect their environment. Fabri Forget emphasizes that her role is to work with grassroots population to figure out what their needs are and help them achieve them. So far, she has organized several task forces in charge of planning for the construction of schools, heath centers, housing, roads and other infrastructure to be funded by Global Alumina. "The reason why I love this project is the commitment to the people. We are not here to just take the bauxite out but to make sure the populations benefit from the wealth of their environment."
She is echoed by Mamadou Diouldé Bah, president of Sangaredi's Rural Development Community, who says "we feel that this project is ours." He adds: "Everybody in the surrounding villages understands that this project, while enriching its promoters, will greatly improve the conditions of living of Sangaredi citizens".
Guinea's people are among the world's poorest. The country ranks 156 out of 177 nations on UNDP's Human Development Index 2005, which incorporates life expectancy and educational attainment as well as standard of living. Ruled for more than two decades by General Lansana Conté, who seized power in 1984 and was elected president in 1993 and reelected in 1998 and 2003, Guinea has suffered from surrounding turmoil. Conflicts in neighboring Liberia and Sierra Leone have spilled fighting, refugees and humanitarian emergencies into the country, which also borders Cote d'Ivoire, Guinea-Bissau, Senegal and Mali.
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Despite the high hopes placed in Global Alumina's project by local populations, some critics believe the company needs to better prepare for the consequences of environmental degradation that can harm the area where the large refinery will operate.
Defending the company's approach, Youla says has Global Alumina has entered into a strategic partnership with the United Nations Development Program and its sister agencies to broaden the social and economic impact of the project and is working toward a similar development alliance with the United States Agency for International Development and the African Development Bank. The company is also a signatory to the Global Compact, a United Nations effort initiated by Secretary General Kofi Annan to encourage socially responsible business practices around the world. "We really take all aspects of this project very seriously," the director general says.
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