Guinea Bissau is one of the world’s smallest economies (World Bank). This is largely due to political and economic instabilities that have affected the country’s development. Despite these challenges, the economy has shown growth over the years with a gross domestic product growth at the rate of 4.9% (World Bank). According to the Africa Development Bank, Guinea Bissau’s imports grew to 377 million dollars in 2016 while exports were at 244 million dollars, leading to – 153 million dollars in trade revenue (Africa Development Bank).
32% of Guinea Bissau’s export is in gold, followed by crude petroleum and aluminum core (OEC). These products are exported to many countries in the world but the major recipients are South Korea, Ghana, and India (OEC). Other countries are France, Germany, Spain, United States and Ireland. On the other hand, Guinea’s import is high on refined petroleum at 27%, followed by rice (OEC). They also import raw materials, telephones, packaged medicare, cars, palm oil and rubber (OEC). Guinea Bissau imports from around 20 countries with majority of the imports coming from Netherlands, China, France India, Belgium and other countries that import in small numbers (OEC).
The country is a member of WTO since 31 May 1995 and is also a member of a member of GATT since 1994 (WTO). Guinea also has trade agreements with the US thought the West African Economic and Monetary Union (UEMOA). It is also qualified to join AGOA since 2016 (WTO). According to the International Labor Organization, Guinea Bissau’s labor issues include child labor and discrimination in employment and occupation (ILO). They have had one case filed at the ILO where the government had conflict with a trade union (ILO).
Works Cited
African Development Bank,. "Guinea-Bissau". African Development Bank. N.p., 2017. Web. 1 Feb. 2017.
ILO,. "International Labor Standards Country Profile: Guinea - Bissau". Ilo.org. N.p., 2017. Web. 1 Feb. 2017.
OEC,. "Products Exported By Guinea (2014)". The Observatory of Economic Complexity. N.p., 2016. Web. 1 Feb. 2017.
World Bank,. "Guinea-Bissau Overview". Worldbank.org. N.p., 2017. Web. 1 Feb. 2017.
WTO,. "WTO | Guinea Bissau - Member Information". Wto.org. N.p., 2017. Web. 1 Feb. 2017.
