1. Mr. President, First of all, I would like, on behalf of the sovereign people of the Republic of Guinea and of its delegation, to extend to you my warm congratulations on your election to the presidency of this 81st ordinary session of the United Nations General Assembly.
It is my hope that the work, under your enlightened leadership, will enable our Organization better to meet the legitimate expectations of the peoples of the world.
I would also like to commend the constant action of Mr. Secretary-General, Antonio GUTERRES, at the head of our common Organization.
It is with a profound sense of pride, but also of humility, that I stand before this august rostrum, on behalf of the sovereign people of the Republic of Guinea, to share with the community of nations the path traveled by my country.
2. Ladies and Gentlemen, Three years ago, from this very rostrum, I delivered, with the frankness that my country and our continent owe to this world, a speech of truth. I said that the model of governance imported, without adaptation, onto our continent, was struggling to bear the fruits expected by our peoples. I maintain that view.
But I return before you today in a different spirit. Not to denounce, but to share a number of factual elements, with the respect due to this assembly, about the path that the Republic of Guinea has chosen to chart and the results that this choice has produced.
3. The Republic of Guinea has given itself a new Constitution. Not a Constitution copied from an external model, but a Fundamental Law shaped by the Guinean people themselves, discussed, amended and adopted by referendum, in the image of their own history and their own diversity.
This Constitution has introduced profound innovations in favor of living together: strengthened representation for our local areas and our communities, new guarantees for alternation, participatory governance, and an affirmed recognition of our religious, linguistic, and cultural plurality as the foundation of sacred national unity rather than as a factor of division.
4. On the basis of this Constitution, the Republic of Guinea has organized the entirety of its direct electoral cycle — local, legislative, and presidential elections — as well as the establishment of all the institutions deriving from it, financed one hundred per cent by the Guinean Treasury.
I say this with legitimate pride before this Assembly: none of these elections, throughout the entire extent of our territory, experienced any significant incident on the part of any of the actors in the electoral process. This is proof, Ladies and Gentlemen, that an African country can organize, on its own, using its own resources, credible, peaceful elections accepted by all.
5. I have not come before this rostrum to present an exhaustive inventory. But I believe it useful, to support my remarks, to share with you a simple overview of what the Republic of Guinea has accomplished in less than three years:
- more than one thousand kilometres of paved roads, opening up our regions;
- the Simandou megaproject, the largest mining and infrastructure project in Africa, now completed;
- schools and hospitals built across the entire national territory;
- three (03) alumina refineries under construction, to process our bauxite on our own soil;
- the largest gold refinery in Africa, already completed and with production capacity; -A programme for the sustainable and responsible socio-economic development of my country for the next 15 years, SIMANDOU 2040.
6. The Simandou 2040 Programme embodies an ambition for the structural transformation of our economy. It is not merely a mining project, but a genuine strategic lever for accelerating the development of infrastructure, agriculture, energy, education, health and industry.
These results, achieved in less than three years, are not cited out of vanity. They illustrate a conviction that I wish to share with this Assembly.
Our greatest wealth, however, remains our youth. We must offer it quality education, training adapted to the needs of the labour market through the SIMANDOU ACADEMY initiative, as well as real opportunities for employment and entrepreneurship.
7. Excellencies, Heads of State and Government, The recent Guinean experience allows me, with respect, to formulate a conviction: when models of governance are adapted to the historical, social and cultural realities of each nation, rather than imported without discernment, development accelerates.
Let us look at Asia. Let us look at certain countries of the Near East. They did not wait for an external model to be validated for them in order to build their prosperity. They were able to draw inspiration from universal experience while adapting it to their own national genius.
In one generation, they have achieved what others took a century to accomplish.
Africa too can take this path. This is not a rejection of the world or of international cooperation, quite the contrary. It is a call for a renewed partnership, respectful of the sovereignty of each nation, based on win-win co-construction, rather than on pre-established schemes that ignore our realities.
The Republic of Guinea, for its part, remains and will remain a reliable, open and committed partner of the entire international community, in mutual respect for sovereignties.
8. Mr. President, Excellencies, Ladies and Gentlemen, The Republic of Guinea is moving forward. It is moving forward with its own means, on the basis of its own choices, in the service of its own people. It is doing so in compliance with international law, in the spirit of the Charter of the United Nations, and in a spirit of frank and non-exclusive cooperation with all its partners.
I express the hope that this Guinean experience may, modestly, inspire broader reflection on the multiple and legitimate paths to development for our continent.
I thank you for your kind attention.