The Information Technology Landscape In 
The Republic of Guinea
Analysis: IT Strenghts and Weaknesses
Weaknesses:
The two main weakness limiting IT growth in Guinea are the high illeteracy rate and the lack of a technically skilled labor force.  The extremely high illeracy rate is one of Guinea's biggest problems, especially in rurual areas. The literacy rate in Guinea is only 48%.  Because of the illeracy problem, Guinea also lacks the skilled labor required to attract foreing IT companies to set up operations in the country. These two problems are obstacles to all aspect of economic development, not just IT. The lack of technical know how is severelly limiting the spead of IT in the country.  Furthermore, the lack of the proper infrastructure is an obstacle to IT development. Besides the capital city, phone lines used mostly used to connect to the Internet are inexistant in almost all other regions. Guinea also lacks the capital funds required for IT development. Even it it wanted to, the country does not have the financial ressources needed to improve its infrastructure. The country will have to rely on foreing direct investment to provide the needed funds, therefore the need for privatization and deregulation.

Strengts:
One of the strenghs of IT in Guinea is the extremely supportive goverment that has taken drastic steps to improve the sector, begining by releasing its more than two decades control when it privatized the national PTO. Guinea is one the few African countries with the proper regulations and policies. As a matter of fact, unlike many African countries, Guinea has allowed a foregin company to control more than half of the country's telecommunications.  A second advntage for Guinea is also its political stability which is a big plus in a continent where alomost every other country has some kind of political problems. Another strenght worth mentioning is also the cheap and abundant labor despite the lack of skilled technicians. As Telecom Malyasia has demonstrated, it might be worth it for foreign companies to train the local labor. Another strengh also worth mentioning is the fact that the demand for IT technologies in extremely huge.

Potential:
As it has been reconized by the goverment, Guinea has the potential to improve several facets of its economy simply by developing its tellecommunications.  First of all, a improved tellecommunications system will help attract foreign direct investment into the country. Second, it can be used to decrease the illiteracy level.  For instance, the Internet can be used to remediate the lack of publications and material.  Through the Internet, Guinea schools can be connected to rest of world and catch on.  The Internet can also be used to improve health conditions. For example, a doctor in a village that lack the proper equipment can obtain advice from a fellow doctor in a developped country, or simply access research material. The Interent can be used to connect the country and help it communicate better.

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Last updated: 12/19/99