Guinea Lawmakers Ratify Cooperation Agreement With Venezuela

Lawmakers in Guinea approved a deal which the West Africa country signed with Venezuela three years ago to explore cooperation in mining, energy and agriculture.

“The agreement foresees oil supply and budgetary support from Venezuela,” Guinea’s Foreign Minister Makale Camara said in parliament in the capital, Conakry. The five-year renewable agreement was approved by a majority of the 113 seats.

Guinea holds the world’s largest reserves of bauxite, the main source of aluminum. Venezuela depends on oil for 95 percent of its export revenue.

Camara dismissed opposition lawmakers’ questions about whether a deal with Venezuela, which is struggling with the worst recession in decades with regular shortages of basic goods and food, would amount to much.

“Venezuela certainly has cyclical difficulties today but it exploits bauxite and gold,” she said. “It is in the difficult times that we recognize best friends.”

To contact the reporter on this story: Ougna Camara in Conakry at ocamara@bloomberg.net. To contact the editors responsible for this story: Andres R. Martinez at amartinez28@bloomberg.net, Andre Janse van Vuuren, Alastair Reed