CONAKRY – Guinea’s junta has appointed Moussa Magassouba, the director general of AngloGold Ashanti subsidiary in the country as mines and geology minister following the September coup, a statement said on Friday.
Magassouba will be tasked with managing the West African nation’s main industry. The country is a major producer and exporter of bauxite used in aluminium manufacturing. It is also rich in iron ore, diamond and gold.
After initial market volatility following the ouster of President Alpha Conde, the junta, led by Colonel Mamady Doumbouya, has moved to reassure business, particularly in the mining sector, that there will be no disruption.
The junta also appointed to Abé Sylla, a United States-based businessman, as energy and hydrocarbons minister, while artist Alpha Soumah, was named culture minister.
The September coup has been condemned by Guinea’s neighbours and international partners, and led to the its suspension from the African Union and the regional Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) 15-nation bloc.
ECOWAS leaders, who will hold a summit meeting on Sunday to discuss coups in Guinea and neighbouring Mali, have demanded that the Guinea junta organise elections by the end of March next year.
President Joe Biden announced on Tuesday that he planned to cut Mali and Guinea, alongside Ethiopia, from the U.S. African Growth and Opportunity Act due to the coups.
(Reporting by Saliou Samb; Writing by Bate Felix; Editing by Louise Heavens)