Mamadou Sandé

Mr. Sandé was appointed Minister of Energy and Hydroelectric Power in February 2009. When Africa Review interviewed him he was still Minister of Economy and Finance, and it is in that capacity that he answered all our questions.

What reforms are necessary to attract investors?

Insecurity has been Guinea’s main problem. But in very little time we have managed to clamp down on corruption and drugs. This means that entrepreneurs who come here will, first of all, feel personally safe. By focusing on this area, we have turned Guinea into a country where it is really possible to invest. It is not tax reforms that will prevent a company from coming here, but insecurity. Nowadays you can go out in Conakry, at any time, and you will not hear a single gunshot. Before, drug-traffickers drove in large Americans cars, but nowadays we rarely see any of these. Guinea is gradually becoming a more stable country for investors. Nevertheless, we will of course grant some favours to investors when they move in here if they will utilise Guinean workforce.

What are the priorities of your Ministry and the economic reforms in process?

The Ministry’s priority nowadays is to put the Guinea’s macroeconomic situation back on its feet. Even before the seizure of power by the CNDD, the country’s macroeconomic situation was really catastrophic. Over the past ten years, the situation was such that the hijacking of public funds had become a tradition. There was no State authority. From a political point of view there was a legal void, and from the economic point of view, the presidential clan had completely plundered the State’s assets. Almost all of the gold reserves at the Central Bank were hijacked. In sum, there was a general paralysis. In spite of the lack of means and the retreat of donors following this unconstitutional seizure of power, we have decided to not bet on big programmes since they need a long time to be executed. To start, we had to try to tackle sectors of primary concern, and see how we could help people out. The government’s priority is that of the Ministry of Economy and Finance. So we have to make water and electricity available to people as fast as we can. But to reach this objective we need financial resources. When donors pulled out, foreign inancial backing dropped. So, the priority for me is using internal means to reinforce and assure the collection of internal resources. This depends on improving tax collection mechanisms, but also on the customs service, because they are the State’s two key revenue sources. Nowadays, we are quite happy with the functioning of these two services. Revitalising these areas has also required additional measures. We have sought to improve our computer systems and to integrate it with the tax services (customs and taxes). Moreover, we are tied by budgetary constraints imposed by the Bretton-Woods institutions. It is for that reason that we received a joint ission of the IMF and the World Bank which took place in Guinea at the end of March 2009. Its goal was to redefine the macroeconomic situation, but also to analyze the impact of the world financial crisis on our economy. We are really very happy, because we had just taken office at the end of December 2008 when we were visited by these institutions.

For one whole week we – the Ministry of Economy and Finance, the Central Bank and the Ministry of Planning – worked together with the IMF and the World Bank, assessing our economic and financial problems. The donors made us realise that we had to revitalize the macroeconomic situation. We had to set new targets for GDP growth, because the former targets could not be achieved due to the international financial crisis. Guinea is a rich country, but rich in its soil. To exploit these resources would allow us to solve our problems. We have the 2nd largest bauxite reserves in the world. For 50 years, Guinea has been exploiting bauxite mines as well as gold and diamonds. Nowadays, with the financial crisis, almost all industrialized countries are in recession. These countries import our resources, and now the prices of our raw materials have dramatically dropped. Obviously, this has had a negative impact on our revenue inflows and GDP. In fact, We have been losing approximately 500 billion [USD] per year due to falling raw material prices and lower demand. So the problem that we have today is linked to the world financial crisis. But now we have to face another problem: our high debt levels. Guinea is a developing country with a great deal of debt. We not only have to pay the debt but also interest on the debt. We could have solved all these problems in the past, but did not. As the Minister of Economy and Finance, I find this extremely frustrating. Previous governments could have solved this situation. But they did not do so. Developed countries have a debt relief programme for heavily indebted developing countries. Once a certain debt-burden threshold is reached, called the “decision point” the HIPC (Heavily Indebted Poor Countries) Initiative enters into effect. If we could reach this point, we would obtain a reduction of 75% of our debt, which would correspond to 2.4 billion dollars. Today, our main objective is to take all the necessary measures, financial and economical, but also political, to benefit from this initiative. It is for that reason that we have made the commitment to start reforms with the help of the IMF.

What are your expectations for Guinea’s relationship with the EU and the African Development Bank (AfDB)?

We are always happy to be able to meet country friends or partners of Guinea. The first thing that we ask other countries is to give us not only their financial aid, but also their political support. We were in Brussels to deliver the political component – i.e., how to get back on track in terms of instituting a constitutional government – and improve our financial situation. Guinea, throughout the Cotonou agreements, has always benefited from the help of the European Union, which is the top donor to Guinea. With this meeting, we wanted first of all to close the deal for the 9th EDF (European Development Fund), which amounts to 86 million dollars approximately, but also to get the 10th EDF (132 million dollars) which would allow us to finance development projects in Guinea. If dialogue is renewed with this Institution as a bilateral partner, it will allow us to establish directs contacts with all its individual country members.

Our meeting with the African Development Bank falls within the same framework. We cannot forget that since the seizure of power, the contact group is with us. This latter is managed by the representatives of the CEDEAO. The AfDB is present from the economic point of view and, from the very start, African countries have supported us politically. Today we have a budget deficit above 200 billion of Guinean francs, and we will make up for it.

Do you count on the private sector and on foreign investors to revitalize the economy in Guinea?

In Africa there is not really a financial crisis because the financial system is very weak. This crisis just accentuated and further damaged a system which was already economically weak. It did not reach our banks but it did affect the overall economy. The raw materials which served as our main revenue sources are now worth far less; prices have dropped sharply. In addition, developed countries which we depended on for financial aid have also been severely impacted by the crisis. We are highly aware that we need a healthy private sector to recover from this crisis. And in order to do that, we inevitably have to encourage foreign investors.

Will Independent South Sudan Be Like Somalia?

We have entered 2011 and there is strong indication that South Sudanese are going to vote for secession, starting from Sunday Jan 2. That means we will now turn our focus on the future of South Sudan, or whatever the name of the new nation would be



As part of the focus on the future of our new nation, the first question that I will try to answer is whether or not an independent South Sudan will be like the current Somalia. One could be tempted to dismiss the possibilities of the comparison of South Sudan with Somalia immediately, but that would be too quick a judgment. The correct answer is not yet clear even though we believe we will not be like Somalia.

South Sudan, on the one hand, will not be like Somalia if we follow the principles of democracy that brought us this far. These principles may not be what we mean as we say them, but they are the foundation of our forthcoming nation. These principles put the choice of leaders in the hands of the people. That was how the majority of the current leaders were chosen in 2010 even though some candidates contested the results.
On the other hand, South Sudan will be like Somalia if we return to the old way of doing things in Sudan. This old way of doing things is coup d'état. When leaders take power by coup, they disregard the views of citizens because citizens do not have a say in who should be their leader when leaders take power by force. They just accept what the powerful man or woman says.


Coup d'états often create chaos before the situation is brought under control. Sometimes, coup d'états create long term vacuums, resulting in lawlessness like the one in Somalia. Power vacuum that resulted in the current lawlessness in Somalia was caused by the car accident that severely injured President Siad Barre on the evening of May 23, 1986. Even though President Barre recovered within one month and resumed his reign in Somalia, the accident had unleashed a power struggle among Somalia senior army commanders, elements of the president's Marehan clan, and related factions, bringing the country to a standstill.

The power struggle created two factions in Somalia: a constitutional faction and a clan faction. The constitutional faction was led by four army generals opposed to President Barre and the clan faction was led by President Barre's members of his immediate family. The government was now divided into clans.


Due to the worsening conditions in the country, rebels of the United Somalia Congress (USC) led by General Mohamed Farrah Aidid attacked Mogadishu on January 26, 1991, ousting the government of President Barre. Somaliland then declared its independence in May, 1991. The clan-based war then followed, resulting in the current chaos in Somalia.

We in South Sudan can only avoid the above history if we are not power-hungry to the point of forgetting the principles of democracy that brought us this freedom.


One may argue that the current government will not lead us well in the independent South Sudan because it has many short-comings. Therefore, it should be removed immediately after secession. I agree that our current government has many short-comings, but there is no guarantee that anybody in the same government would turn South Sudan into a Paradise by usurping power. Leaders who take power by force often care less about people. They care much about themselves and their inner circles. We must be careful about their intentions.

We must understand that coup d'état is the outdated practice internationally. International community this time opposes any leader who takes power by force. The only fruit that a country under such a leader reaps is sanction, leading to weak economy and starvation. We must avoid this kind of practice if we are to keep peace and build our new nation successfully after secession. Democracy must be the only way of changing leaders in the independent South Sudan if we are to avoid Somalization in our new nation.

Tanzania financial sector most rigid in East Africa, new IMF study reveals

Some two years ago, Tanzanian investors interested in buying into the massive initial public offering of Kenya’s largest mobile telecommunications company, Safaricom, were locked out by their country’s regulations and could only look on as their counterparts in Rwanda and Uganda took part.

A year later, the National Microfinance Bank of Tanzania also had an IPO on the Dar-es-Salaam Stock Exchange but investors from other East African Community partner states — Kenya, Uganda, Rwanda and Burundi — were not allowed to buy the shares.

The country’s capital account regime prohibits flow of foreign investments into the country.

It is these regulations that have landed the country’s financial sector with the unenviable tag of the most rigid in the region, in a new study by International Monetary Fund that also delivers a harsh indictment of its stultifying effect on the region’s efforts towards monetary integration.

The new report, contained in the IMF working paper on ‘Measuring financial barriers among the three EAC founder member states’ — a copy of which has been seen by The EastAfrican — ranks Kenya’s financial sector as the most flexible and open in the region, followed by Uganda, and finally Tanzania.

With the coming into force of the Common Market protocol, the EAC now has its sights trained on the Monetary Union expected to come into force in 2012, which requires openness in the partner states’ financial systems.

The other EAC partner states of Rwanda and Burundi were not covered in the IMF paper, prepared by Yi David Wang, which was published early last week.

Mr Wang used the “covered interest rate parity” (CIP) and “forward foreign exchange” (FFE) systems to measure the region’s financial openness.

CIP refers to a principle stating that yields from two equivalent investments in the domestic market and the foreign market, respectively, are equal after accounting for fluctuations in the exchange rate.

On the other hand, FFE is an agreement that obligates an investor to deliver a specified quantity of one currency in return for a specified amount of another currency.

According to the paper, Tanzania contains a number of explicit capital movement restrictions that may impede CIP’s functioning.

For example, Tanzania restricts non-residents from borrowing abroad and restricts the participation of non-residents in the domestic money market.

Available data indicate that Tanzania is the only country in EAC that restricts outward direct investment.

The same applies to the aspect of purchase of foreign securities by residents, whereby Tanzania only allows purchasing of foreign securities using externally generated funds.

This is not the case in Kenya, Uganda and Rwanda, while in Burundi it only requires the approval of the central bank.

Kodjo Sagbo Togo´s Ambassador before the EU

Mr. Kodjo Sagbo was named Togo’s ambassador before the European Union and the Benelux in 2004. The renewal of the cooperation between the EU and Togo was the most important dossier awaiting for the Togolese ambassador upon his arrival from his previous post in Abuja (Nigeria). The EU had suspended all cooperation with Togo after the upheavals that took place before the first plural presidential elections in 1993. After that, numerous Togolese delegations went to Brussels to ask for the reestablishment of the cooperation with their country. The European Union demanded free, democratic and transparent elections in order to resume full cooperation with Togo. Progressively, with the celebration of these elections, these conditions have been met and cooperation has been reestablished. Right before the February 2010, presidential elections, Mr. Sagbo briefly described his country’s situation and the present relations between the EU and Togo.

Togo, my country, formerly known as the “Switzerland of Africa”, is recovering its role on the regional and international scene. This recovery is the result of the collective action of its sons and is also due to the help of the international community which it missed until recently. This is due in large parts to the leadership of President Mr. Faure Essozimna Gnassingbé who, since gaining power, has never stopped working towards reconciliation, and is firmly committed to building a stable, peaceful and developed Togo. In the President, we have worked in Brussels to reestablish ties with the EU, our main and most valued development partner. Since 2007, a more productive political situation has allowed Togo to reestablish fruitful relationships with its bilateral and multilateral partners. Thanks to the National Indicative Programme of the 10th European Development Fund (EDF), and to budgetary assistance, EU financial support is worth millions of euros in important fields for the development of Togo such as infrastructures, health, education, agriculture etc. To this we have to add all the support given for elections, security and justice. This year, the EU will be in Togo together with other partners to make sure that the presidential elections go smoothly on March 4. For the first time in a decade, in October 2009, a EU ambassador has been accredited to Togo, establishing his residence in Lomé. The donor round table held in Brussels in September 2008, gave a clearer picture of the aid outlook, going forward, and with a strict management of its resources, Togo could be well on its way to reaching its Millennium Development Goals (MDG). The “Switzerland of Africa” boasts modern port facilities, a tax-free zone, and is one of West Africa’s premiere business hubs with a programme adapted to globalization. Furthermore, in addition to the the traditional welcoming spirit of its people, its tourist attractions, are amongst the most famous in Africa, and it has a great artistic and cultural patrimony, I would like to invite you to visit, make business, invest, or just to spend your holidays in Togo.