Guinea Signs Jospong Waste Pact for Greater Conakry

Guinea’s Ministry of Sanitation, Hydraulics and Hydrocarbons signed a waste-management agreement with Ghana’s Jospong Group on November 3, according to the ministry’s account published by EcofinAgency. The contract is intended to modernize solid-waste services and recycling activities across Greater Conakry.

Collection and recycling plans

The first phase provides for mobilizing more than 250 waste-collection vehicles and pieces of equipment for collection, transfer and transport operations. The agreement also calls for construction of a 20-hectare industrial waste-recycling complex in Kouriah. The ministry said construction was expected to begin the following week, so the complex remained a planned facility rather than an operating asset.

Financing and revenue arrangement

Jospong will fully finance the recycling complex, while the government and the company will share revenue from sales of recycled products. The reporting did not disclose the total capital cost, financing schedule or revenue-sharing percentages.

The broader partnership covers collection, recycling, recovery and resource utilization. Jospong’s environmental services subsidiary, Zoomlion Ghana Limited, is expected to work through Zoomlion Guinea Integrated Waste Solutions Limited with the ministry and the National Agency for Sanitation and Public Health.

Operational scope and jobs

Jospong’s responsibilities include managing transfer stations, organizing waste collection in major public markets, and transporting refuse to the Baritodé landfill and future recovery facilities. The government expects the partnership to create between 2,000 and 2,500 direct jobs in its first year, according to the lead report.

A prior report on the agreement quoted Guinea’s sanitation minister, Aboubacar Camara, giving a broader expectation of 2,000 to 3,000 jobs from a proposed processing and recovery plant. The two job ranges are attributed separately because the reviewed reports do not explain the difference in scope.

Scale of the sanitation challenge

Conakry generates more than 2,500 tonnes of municipal solid waste daily, but historically collected about 44% to 55%, according to context reporting from November 4. The agreement follows extensive due diligence and visits by Guinean officials to Ghana, Camara said.

The project is also intended to support rehabilitation of degraded dumpsites and environmental conditions in the capital. Planned products include compost for farmers, recycled materials for local industries and other items made from recovered waste.