For better or worse: A coup d'etat in Guinea

News comes today of the death of Guinean dictator President Lansana Conte and a subsequent coup d'etat by the military who as recently as May mutinied against the widespread corruption within the ranks. Conte had unsympathetically ruled the country for over two decades, entrenching one of the most resource-gifted states on the planet as one of the the most undeveloped. Despite already being implied, its worth explicating Guinea's incredible performances for Transparency International's Corruption Perceptions Index, most notably their almost chart topping rendition in 2006.

As evidenced by rank and file soldiers taking only hours to exploit the situation, Conte's position is highly prized (pun however you like it) within Guinea. His refusal to relinquish power for 24 years, meagrely --"there is no open transition, I am chief, the others are my subordinates"-- appeasing the disenchantment which resulted in the deaths of 180 protesters by a appointing Prime Minister in 2007, serves as further testament. It was the firing of PM Lansana Kouyate that sparked this summer's chaos.

The current PM, Tidiane Souare, isn't just about to roll over and relinquish control of a quarter of the world's bauxite (aluminium) reserves, and further endowments of everything from gold and diamonds to uranium. He announced that the government is still "functioning" in the afternoon. Out of luck is Australian mining giant Rio Tinto, currently squabbling over the rights to a $6 billion iron ore operation, and probably the Guinean populace, whether it would be for ethic reasons (Conte represented a 10% minority), or for the fact that parents are getting sick of sending their kids to study under the airport's lights due to a lack of electricity--despite the country possessing abundant hydroelectric potential. With electricity comprising 20-40% of the cost of processing aluminium, the priorities of the government, as well as the causes of student bum-itis, are rather clear.

If the experiences of Guinea's Equatorial namesake, and nearby Angola, (not to mention vast historical examples) are any indication, the prospects for positive change within a resource rich African nation are rather grim. There, recent discoveries of sweet crude --the good stuff-- have rocketed the GDPs per capita (Equiatorial Guinea's was 4th in the world a couple of years ago) but HDI scores remain just the opposite. On a 'bright' note, Aluminium producers have reason to rejoice as last year's instability prompted speculation that raised the price of a ton by over 70 percent.