However, there are tremendous economic opportunities in Guinea Conakry to use as a base starting point, then expanding throughout the region. I was there recently and noticed similar market phenomena and so it all as tremendous opportunity.
The whole market is there for the taking and so many “needs” or “demand” for goods and services. Successive governments have been consistently inefficient at stimulating economic growth and the private sector has consistently lacked adequate “infusion of cash” to build viable models. You name it, its needed. It is almost like landing in the 18th century with 21st century know-how. “If you build it, they will come”. All sectors can be easily innovated, this will alleviate pent up demand as well as virtually attract “good services and good product starved citizenry”. Keeping in mind that key capitals are just few ours away, it definitely represents an excellent nexus, pivotal location for any profit conscious firm.

There is pent up demand, cash is there as a good percentage of Guineans, especially professionals have to fly to 6 hours north to France for annual shopping. Products can be brought closer to them; a small fleet of trucks/minivans can sustain logistics or transportation; Introduce supermarket/mall concept and use software and computers to track SKU, Innovate cash collection; Build appropriate warehouses with such affordable labor force; Businesses to organize, band together to increase security…

Inherent creative workforce is affordable and very easy to train. A population that is quite open to international firms… In addition, most of these pushcart operators are millionnaires in US Dollars. Because, typically illerate, they just lack the vision to scale up operations and see a larger picture.. They play it safe by keeping operations small. If they could put their model into a simple Excel matrix or better yet, an ERP busines modeling tool, they’d see the potential of what they truly could realize in profit.
Thus, they bring the market “down”, “down”, “down” to their level. This process needs to be reversed pronto in not only the private sector, (but also in the public sector in the long run…).

Nevertheless, various industries have tuned into this and so have certain venture capitalist groups (especially in the UK); the hope is they’d actively redirect resources to match these opportunities. I wish US firms will also seize these opportunities as well. Such countries seem a bit sheltered from this global economic downturn. There is pent up demand in almost every sector. More firms implies more jobs, less poverty and thus increased security and exponential economic growth (..and the birds will be singing, the violin playing, folks dancing in the wind..). But seriously, this is thr trend!

In the very (“short”) long run, only private sector initiatives can pull Guinean (Conakry) market out of its morass…