Guinea coup leader asks army to back him, suspends constitution
A unit of Guinea’s military seized power and suspended the constitution, destabilizing the West African nation that’s a key source of the raw material used to make aluminum.
The head of Guinea’s special forces, Col. Mamady Doumbouya, announced the takeover on state television on Sunday and urged the armed forces to back him. The action was taken to address financial mismanagement and corruption in Guinea under President Alpha Conde, he said.
“If you see the condition of our roads, of our hospitals, you realize that it is time for us to wake up,” Doumbouya said. “We are going to initiate a national consultation to open an inclusive and peaceful transition.”
Doumbouya said in a statement read on local television stations he’s imposed a curfew starting at 8 p.m. local time. He also said that Conde is safe and has been in contact with his doctors and has been given access to his health care needs.
Guinea vies with Australia as China’s largest supplier of bauxite, which is used to make alumina and eventually aluminum. The country shipped 82.4 million tons of the mineral globally last year, according to government data. Much of that went to China, which is the world’ s biggest aluminum consuming country.
Aluminum has jumped about 50% over the past year in London and is near the highest in a decade. Prices have rallied as a global economic recovery from the effects of the pandemic and Chinese output restrictions stoked demand. The energy-intensive aluminum industry has been targeted in China as the government seeks to conserve electricity and curb emissions, while a seasonal power crunch has also dented production.
The military takeover “might have a speculative impact on the price of aluminum but will have a bigger impact on the alumina price because it’s more immediately exposed to the event,” said Tom Price, head of commodities strategy at Liberum Capital Ltd. “It’s an event which will create a new risk of security to supply.”
Companies including United Co. Rusal have invested heavily to extract Guinea’s abundant ironore and bauxite reserves. Rio Tinto Group, the world’s largest miner, has been looking at ways to exploit Simandou, the biggest undeveloped ironore deposit. Johannesburg-based AngloGold Ashanti Ltd. owns the Siguiri gold mine in Guinea, its only asset in the country.
Rusal’s spokesman declined to comment on the military takeover, but said it could have an impact on output. Guinea accounted for about 9% of the alumina produced by Rusal in the first half of 2021, according to the company.
United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres condemned the coup.
Leaders of two African blocs have pushed for the release of Guinea’s president. Leaders of the Economic Community of West African States also threatened sanctions against Guinea, Chairman Nana Akufo-Addo said in a statement.
The regional political and economic body “condemns with the greatest firmness, and also demands a return to constitutional order,” Akufo-Addo, who’s also Ghana’s president, added.
The African Union also called for its Peace and Security Council to meet urgently over the matter.