• Guinea signs an MoU with Turkey’s Albayrak Group to mobilise financing for Phase II of Conakry Airport’s modernisation.
• The project aims to raise annual capacity to 3 million passengers, up from a current theoretical 500,000.
• The upgrade forms part of a broader government plan to restructure national air transport, including secondary aerodromes and the state airline.

The Guinean government aims to secure financing for Phase II of the Conakry Airport modernisation project, which authorities launched last month. The initiative seeks to increase capacity at the airport, which has operated at full capacity for several years.

The state, through the General Directorate of the Société de Gestion des Aéroports de Guinée (SOGEAG), signed a memorandum of understanding with Turkey’s Albayrak Group on Tuesday, 9 December 2025. The protocol establishes a cooperation framework to facilitate financing for Phase II of the construction and modernisation of Ahmed Sékou Touré International Airport.

The authorities consider the MoU a strategic step toward accelerating the project, which operates under a public-private partnership model. The second phase includes building a new terminal, strengthening and widening the runway, erecting a new control tower compliant with international standards and developing a two-level parking facility.

The planned investments aim to increase the airport’s annual capacity to 3 million passengers, compared with a current theoretical capacity of 500,000. The airport handled 788,879 passengers in 2024, illustrating the growing pressure on infrastructure already running at full capacity.

The government launched the modernisation project in 2023 to ease congestion at a rapidly growing aviation hub central to Guinea’s economic and commercial exchanges. Beyond the airport upgrade, authorities outline a broader ambition to restructure national air transport.

The government’s roadmap includes rehabilitating secondary aerodromes to boost domestic traffic, relaunching the public airline and integrating air transport into a multimodal system. This approach aligns with the country’s ongoing rail-modernisation efforts, including the Simandou mining and railway megaproject, as well as multiple ongoing road projects.

This article was initially published in French by Henoc Dossa

Adapted in English by Ange Jason Quenum