Employment-Intensive Investment in

Guinea

Activities of the Employment Intensive Investment Programme in Guinea

Current EIIP Involvement

An ILO-assisted feeder roads rehabilitation and maintenance project (GUI/94/01M/CEE) has been operating under the infrastructure development component of the European Development Fund Programme for Guinea. This project continues its mission of creating sustainable job opportunities through enterprise development.

Historical Information

In 1992, the National Rural Infrastructure Project, aimed at rehabilitating about 2000 km of feeder roads, started with support from the World Bank. The ILO prepared a project ("Programme Pilote des Routes de Desserte") for the rehabilitation of some 160 km of roads by local contractors using labour-based/light equipment-supported methods. The ILO further helped to set up a major training programme for supervisory staff and small contractors. The project concentrated its activities in four selected prefectures and tested a national feeder road maintenance system. The ILO technical assistance team comprised a Chief Technical Adviser, a Training Adviser and three National Engineers.

The World Bank financing ended in early 1995. Since then, an ILO-assisted feeder roads rehabilitation and maintenance project (GUI/94/01M/CEE) has been operating under the infrastructure development component of the European Development Fund Programme for Guinea. This project continues its mission of creating sustainable job opportunities through enterprise development. Local labour-based contractors were involved and provided with skill development and business opportunities. Thirteen small-scale enterprises specialised in the execution of labour-based road works were formed. These enterprises proved to have a capacity to rehabilitate 260 km of rural roads in one year. They grouped into an association and started promoting themselves.

The agreement with the European Union expired at the end of 1998, and options for a further involvement of the ILO in the implementation of EIIP programmes in Guinea were discussed with concerned government and donor representatives. The EU delegation in Conakry expressed the intention to continue the collaboration with the ILO during the next 5-year phase of their Guinea country programme. The negotiations on this were finalized in the third quarter of 1999.

At the request of the Government, an ILO mission was fielded during the second half of 1999 to formulate an Employment Policy Unit, which advises the Government on how to promote employment in mainstream investment programmes. This unit is posted in the Finance and Planning Ministry. The mission was organised in cooperation with the ILO Subregional Office in Dakar.