Minister of Endowments (Awqaf) and Islamic Affairs H E Ghanem bin Shaheen bin Ghanem Al Ghanim, with President of Qatar National Library and Minister of State H E Hamad Bin Abdulaziz Al-Kawari, Ambassador of the Republic of Guinea H E Thierno Abdoulaye Sow, General Manager of Katara Cultural Village H E Prof. Dr. Khaled Ibrahim Al-Sulaiti, Director of the Department of Protocol at MoFA H E Ambassador Ibrahim Yousif Abdullah Fakhro during the cake cutting ceremony. Pic: Rajan Vadakkemuriyil / The Peninsula
Doha, Qatar: The Republic of Guinea celebrated the 68th anniversary of its independence at Katara Cultural Village with an address by its Ambassador to Qatar, H E Thierno Abdoulaye Sow, who underlined the country’s historic role as the first independent French-speaking nation south of the Sahara and called for stronger Guinean-Qatari partnership.
The ceremony was held in the presence of the Minister of Endowments (Awqaf) and Islamic Affairs H E Ghanem bin Shaheen bin Ghanem Al Ghanim, President of Qatar National Library and Minister of State H E Hamad Bin Abdulaziz Al-Kawari, General Manager of Katara Cultural Village H E Prof Dr. Khaled Ibrahim Al-Sulaiti, Director of the Department of Protocol at MoFA H E Ambassador Ibrahim Yousif Abdullah Fakhro, and other senior Qatari officials and members of the diplomatic corps.
H E the Ambassador Sow paid tribute to the martyrs whose struggle secured the nation’s freedom, dignity and unity, symbolised by its national flag, and stressed the duty to pass this memory to future generations.
Conveying warm greetings from President of the Republic, H E General Mamadi Doumbouya, to the Amir H H Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, the Ambassador expressed profound appreciation for Qatar’s steadfast commitment to peace, dialogue and stability in the Middle East and beyond.
He described these efforts as reflecting H H the Amir’s enlightened vision and reinforcing Qatar’s role as an indispensable actor in international cooperation.
“This year’s theme, Drawing Inspiration from the Past to Build the Future Together: Our Youth, placed Guinean youth, nearly 70 percent of the population, at the centre of national priorities. Young people, through creativity, technology mastery and dynamism, are key drivers of economic and social transformation.
“The Government has accordingly made youth and the diaspora a pillar of its governance,” H E Ambassador Sow said.
On bilateral relations, he reaffirmed determination to deepen cooperation in political, economic, cultural and scientific fields, grounded in mutual trust and shared values. Guinea, he noted, is emerging as one of Africa’s most promising investment destinations under the Simandou 2040 Programme.
“The $20bn megaproject developing the world’s largest iron ore deposit is linked by the 760-kilometre Transguinéen multi-use railway to the deep-water port of Morébaya, targeting 100–120 million tonnes of annual production. IMF projections indicate Simandou could raise Guinea’s GDP by 26 percent by 2030 and support 11.6 percent growth in 2027 while creating thousands of jobs,” he noted.
Complementary industrial projects include three major alumina refineries with combined investments exceeding $6 billion, the Nimba Gold Refinery, Africa’s largest, and vast agricultural potential across 13.7 million hectares of arable land and more than 1,161 waterways.
