• Guinea opens TAS 2025 as the country ties digital ambitions to the Simandou project
• Government plans major investments in fiber, data centers, talent, and innovation
• Conakry aims to turn its mining boom into a long-term digital and economic dividend

The 7th edition of the Transform Africa Summit (TAS 2025), organized by Smart Africa and the Guinean government, opened on Wednesday, November 12, 2025, in Conakry under the theme “AI for Africa: Innovate Locally, Impact Globally.”

The event is being held for the first time in West Africa, only 24 hours after the official launch of iron ore production at Simandou and the Transguinean railway built to transport the ore to the port. For Guinea, the timing carries strong symbolic weight. “Two symbols, one message: our country is entering a new era. Our wealth is no longer limited to what lies underground, but now lies in talent, ideas, and connections,” said Rose Pola Pricemou, Minister of Posts, Telecommunications and the Digital Economy, during the opening ceremony.

By hosting the Transform Africa Summit, which runs until November 14, Guinea confirms its choice to diversify the economy. The growth of the digital sector, supported by Simandou, is seen as essential. The adoption of breakthrough technologies such as artificial intelligence, described as full of opportunities, is strongly encouraged. “Artificial intelligence is not only a technology, but a civilizational revolution. It is redefining our health systems, education systems, the economy, and even the way we imagine the future. For Guinea and for Africa, the goal is not to undergo it, but to lead it, rooted in our values, our languages, and our priorities,” the minister said. To reach its goals for a digital dividend, Guinea plans major investments in digital infrastructure, talent training, and innovation support.

Investments to support the digital sector

Without infrastructure, there can be no digital economy in which to develop Guinean expertise. To strengthen the foundations of the local digital ecosystem, the government plans to accelerate the work undertaken in recent years, which now includes more than 12,000 km of deployed fiber optics, the construction of a Tier III data center, and ongoing connection to a second submarine fiber optic cable to expand the country’s capacity currently provided by the ACE system. Rose Pola Pricemou also announced active fiber optic interconnections with Mali, Sierra Leone, and Côte d’Ivoire. Interconnection with Senegal is planned, and advanced discussions are under way with Liberia and Guinea-Bissau.

Without Guinean expertise, digital infrastructure has limited impact. Training young people in digital skills is presented as a national emergency. The goal is to build a pool of developers, data scientists, designers, and cybersecurity specialists capable of supporting the country’s future digital offering. Support for innovation is just as important. The aim is to help develop local tech champions, especially in artificial intelligence, given its central role. The government, which is preparing the construction of a national technopole designed as a major innovation hub in West Africa, has already set up digital hubs in every regional capital. These facilities serve as innovation and training centers for Guinean youth.

Guinea’s interest in developing a niche of digital talent aligns with the vision of the country’s major national transformation program: Simandou 2040, built around 122 projects and 36 flagship reforms across five strategic pillars. Pillar 3, dedicated to investments in infrastructure, transport, and technology, opens new opportunities.

Competing globally with qualified talent

With a skilled youth population, a source of national wealth, Guinea also increases its chances of positioning itself among creators of high value-added services. It could join the ranks of exporters of digital solutions, following the example of Egypt, which generated $4.8 billion in digital sector revenue in 2025. Applications, payment solutions, cybersecurity services, data analysis platforms, and digital content production are all areas in which Guinea could build expertise to attract international investors.

However, several conditions will influence the success of this ambition: a stable regulatory framework, transparent management of mining revenues, effective investment in announced projects, and commitments in connected sectors that are essential for digital transformation, such as the energy required to operate digital infrastructure and data centers.

By symbolically linking Simandou and the Transform Africa Summit, Conakry is attempting to write a new chapter: that of a country seeking to convert its “red gold” into a digital dividend and to elevate Guinea to the ranks of Africa’s developed economies within the next fifteen years.