The countdown is on. For the first time in its history, Guinea will host the West African Economic and Monetary Union (UEMOA) SME and Banking Exhibition, from November 20 to 23 in Conakry. An event that the authorities intend to transform into a springboard for an entrepreneurial fabric still weakened by limited access to credit. It is in this perspective that a delegation from the Chamber of Commerce, Industry and Crafts of Guinea (CCIAG), led by its President Mamadou Baldé, was received on Monday September 14 by Prime Minister Amadou Oury Bah. Discussions focused on the logistical and strategic organization of this show, known as a platform for direct contact between project leaders and donors.

The issue goes beyond the simple holding of an economic forum, because by receiving this employers' delegation, the Head of the Guinean government confirms the anchoring of this meeting in the broader dynamics of the Simandou 2040 program, a road map supposed to transform the national economy thanks to the fallout from the mega mining project of the same name. The organizers want to take advantage of the event to prepare local companies to position themselves on the subcontracting markets generated by this project, as well as on the new business opportunities that result from it. The show will bring together banks, financial institutions and Fintechs, with the aim of creating concrete bridges between entrepreneurs looking for capital and structures likely to finance their projects.The First Vice-President of the CCIAG, Eric Benjamin Colle, sees this as a decisive opportunity for Guinean SMEs, which occupy an important place in the national entrepreneurial fabric while remaining faced with persistent difficulties in accessing financing. massive investments announced as part of Simandou 2040.