Compagnie des Bauxites de Guinée, CBG, is the pioneer of the bauxite mining industry in Guinea. Founded on October 1, 1963 under an agreement between the Guinean government (49% shareholding) and the Harvey Aluminium Co (Halco) (51% shareholding of Alcoa (USA), Alcan (Canada) and Péchiney (France)), CBG exported its first bauxite production on August 2, 1973, totaling 19,000 tons, aboard the Coronia. Following a buyout of Canadian Alcan's assets by Rio Tinto, Halco is now made up of Alcoa, Rio Tinto Alcan and Dadco. In 2007, the company produced its millionth ton of bauxite, after thirty-four years in business.

Guinean leadership

Since its creation, Compagnie des Bauxites de Guinée had always been run at the top by expatriates, even though many years before, former Guinean president, General Lansana Conté's had demanded and obtained the "Africanization" of several senior positions. However, in 2009, this changed with the arrival at the head of CBG of Kémoko Touré, a Guinean who had long served in senior positions with major European groups such as Siemens. He was not only the first Guinean, but also the first African to hold the position of Managing Director of CBG. Under his leadership, he made the fight against fraud, whose annual cost was estimated at 20 million dollars, his top priority. He remained in this position for four years.

Following him, Namory Condé, another Guinean who served mainly as mine manager at CBG and Regional Manager Business Development at BHP Billiton Iron Ore, has been appointed CEO of CBG, a position he held from 2014 to the end of 2016.

His successor was another Guinean, Souleymane Traoré, who has been CBG's Managing Director since January 2017. Like Kémoko Touré, Souleymane Traoré discovered mining with CBG. Previously, he served in the oil sector, notably at Exxon Mobil and Total, where he held senior positions as CFO, country manager, senior auditor, etc. It is said that he is about to leave this position. Will he be replaced by another Guinean?

A provider of jobs and major contributor to the Guinean economy

Since its creation in 1963, CBG has been a source of employment for many Guineans and even for foreigners. It employs over two thousand people directly, plus many subcontractors.

In 2022, CBG produced 18,279,755 tons of bauxite. In a ranking made by the Guinean General Tax Directorate in 2022, CBG is "the third biggest contributor" to the national economy, behind the telephone company Orange Guinée and its finance-oriented subsidiary Orange Finance, with 125 billion Guinean francs contributed to the national economy.