POLITICAL PARTY LEADER PEDDLES UTOPIAN VISION FOR

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 CONAKRY 000210

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 04/08/2019
TAGS: PGOV PREL KDEM ASEC GV
SUBJECT: POLITICAL PARTY LEADER PEDDLES UTOPIAN VISION FOR
GUINEA

Classified By: A/DCM SHANNON CAZEAU FOR REASON 1.4 B AND D


1. (C) SUMMARY. An emerging Guinean politician, Amcit Abe
Sylla, is peddling a utopian vision of economic progress for
the country. He claims that he can turn Guinea around in
five years, and have it sitting at the table with the G7 in
twenty as a donor nation. Although his economic reasoning is
likely sound, Sylla does not seem to have a good grasp of
Guinea's political realities. At the same time, his name
continues to come up in discussions with various contacts,
suggesting that he is finding some political traction. If he
is peddling these concepts to the CNDD, they may very well be
buying into some or all of Sylla's vision. END SUMMARY.


2. (C) Since the December 23 coup d'etat, Abe Sylla (Amcit)
has been increasingly active in Guinea's political arena.
Pol/Econ Chief met with Sylla on April 7 to discuss his new
political party, the New Generation for the Republic (NGR),
as well as his vision for the country.

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BIO NOTES
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3. (C) Abe Sylla is a naturalized U.S. citizen who has lived
in the United States for more than 40 years. He was born in
1951 in Kindia, Guinea where he spent his childhood. After
immigrating to the United States, he earned a Bachelor's and
Master's degree in electrical engineering at the University
of Maryland. He is married and has two adult daughters.


4. (C) Sylla is believed to hold considerable personal as
well as business wealth. His company, AIS Engineering,
specializes in telecommunications and information technology,
and has provided services to the U.S. Government, including
the Departments of Defense and State. On the company
website, AIS states that it holds contracts to provide
diplomatic communication services to a number of U.S.
Embassies. The company also handles the ECOWAS
communications network (ERIES). A review of open source
materials indicates that Sylla contributed $1,500 to
President Obama's campaign fund and another $2,000 to
Congressman Wynn's campaign fund in 2008. In 2004, he
contributed a total of $1,410 to the Republican party.

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TURNING GUINEA AROUND
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5. (C) Abe Sylla told Pol/Econ Chief that he decided to
enter the Guinean political arena because he believes that he
can "turn the country around." He explained how he knows
first-hand what Guinea looked like before independence, and
how much the country's economic situation has subsequently
deteriorated over the last fifty years. However, Sylla feels
that Guinea's current political leaders are ill equipped to
address the challenges ahead. "They all have good ideas and
good intentions, but no real solutions." According to Sylla,
his personal success in the business world has provided him
with the experience needed to run a country, and to provide
the solutions that are so desperately needed.

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SEND IN THE REPAIR TEAM
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6. (C) When asked about his new political party, the NGR,
Sylla explained that it is really much more than a political
party. "We are a team of professionals, such as teachers,
engineers, and lawyers, who want to come in to Guinea and fix
its problems...we can train these young kids how to govern,
establish rule of law, and then turn it over to a new
generation of leadership...they just need help," Sylla said.
He clarified that this team of experts is comprised primarily
of members of the Guinean Diaspora living in the United
States and Europe.

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A UTOPIAN VISION
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7. (C) Sylla claimed that he could "turn Guinea around" in
just five years, making it the industrial equivalent to "at
least Belgium." He then outlined a vision for achieving this
goal, which focuses primarily on developing the country's
hydroelectric potential. "Water is the key...if we can just
harness that energy, we can eradicate poverty." Sylla said
that with such development, Guinea would have an excess
supply of electricity that it could then export throughout

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the region. Once Guinea reaches that level of production,
Sylla said he could move into the second and third phases of
his plan.


8. (C) For the second phase, Guinea could begin to use its
newfound hydroelectric surplus to process the bauxite
reserves that are currently exported elsewhere for costly
processing. The third phase would involve using "water
wealth" to transform the agricultural sector, making Guinea a
net exporter of rice. Sylla's final phase, or "wheel" as he
termed it, would be the tourism industry, which he claimed
would grow exponentially due to the thousands of expatriates
who would be living in Guinea as a result of the success of
the first three phases.


9. (C) When the discussion turned to an implementation
strategy, Sylla said he would probably need to use foreign
labor, "maybe Thais, Filipinos, or Chinese," for the first
five to ten years since Guineans currently lack the necessary
skill sets. However, Sylla said that the success of the
project would enable the government to start investing
heavily in the education sector in order to develop the
country's labor capacity.

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EARNING A SEAT AT THE G7 TABLE
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10. (C) At this point, Sylla went on at length about revenue
projections, although his reasoning as to how he came up with
these figures was unclear. He estimated that in five to ten
years, Guinea would be generating more than $10 billion in
annual revenues through the power, mining, agricultural, and
tourism sectors. Of this $10 billion, Sylla claimed that the
government would really only need $4 billion to provide for
the needs of its citizens, leaving $6 billion that could then
be invested in the world market. Based on this model, Sylla
said that "Guinea will be sitting at the table with the G7 in
twenty years because it will have become a donor country."

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CANDIDACY UNCLEAR
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11. (C) In response to a question as to why a naturalized
American citizen would want to get involved in Guinean
politics, Sylla said that he had already done everything in
his life and was looking for a challenge. He emphasized that
he doesn't need any more money and that Guinea really does
need help. However, Sylla acknowledged "I don't even know
this country, I don't know what the hell I'm getting myself
into."


12. (C) Pol/Econ Chief asked if Sylla had declared his
candidacy for president, to which Sylla replied that he had
not. When asked if he planned to declare, he said "we are
working out the details."

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CLEAN OUT THE GOVERNMENT AND THEN START OVER
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13. (C) In response to Sylla's outlined political/economic
vision, Pol/Econ Chief commented that some critics might find
his proposal too optimistic. Sylla agreed, but said that
"someone has to have a vision." He acknowledged that the
proposal might seem utopian, but he was convinced that it was
doable. Pol/Econ Chief also raised questions about how his
plan would get around the persistent corruption that has
crippled development for decades. Sylla said that the only
way to move forward is to establish rule of law, good
governance, and strong democratic institutions. In order to
achieve these objectives, Sylla said that the only solution
is to "double the salary of every government employee, thank
them for their service, and ask them to stay home...I would
do that and then bring in my own team to run the government."

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DADIS IS JUST MISUNDERSTOOD
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14. (C) On the question of CNDD President Moussa Dadis
Camara, Sylla said "he is a good kid, but perhaps misguided."
He said that although Dadis is not really solving any of the
country's problems, he is popular because he is tackling
issues that resonate with the population. When asked if he
had personally met with Dadis, Sylla said that Dadis had
requested a meeting but that Sylla had refused to go to Camp
Alpha Yaya. "If he wants to meet with me, I told him that he

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needs to come to my office," Sylla said.


15. (C) Sylla then heaped criticism on Guinean civil society
and the international community, including the United States
Government. He said "Dadis wants to leave, but no one is
listening to him...he got up on national television and said
he was willing to step down in three months, but no one paid
him any attention." When Pol/Econ Chief asked Sylla how he
thought the international community should have reacted to
this statement, Sylla said "you should have said okay,
offered him and his family political amnesty, and then helped
him to find a position elsewhere, like in an NGO or a private
company." Pol/Econ Chief explained current USG policy toward
Guinea at length, and in particular, our zero tolerance for a
military regime and the individuals responsible for
perpetuating it.


16. (C) Before leaving, Sylla said that he completely
understood the USG position. "Don't forget, I am Dadis'
opposition...I want him to go just as much as everyone else,"
he said.


17. (SBU) As Pol/Econ Chief was escorting Sylla out of the
building, a member of the Embassy's contract guard force
stopped Sylla and asked him for his business card, saying
"Please sir, I would like to join your party."

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COMMENT
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18. (C) Sylla's utopian vision of how to move Guinea forward
suggests that he does not have a solid understanding of the
country's complex political dynamic. Although he is probably
right about Guinea's economic potential, it will take a lot
more than a "team of experts" to reverse the country's
decades of mismanagement and graft. Pol/Econ Chief pointed
out Guineans' traditional skepticism towards members of the
Diaspora who return years later, an issue that Sylla quickly
dismissed as being irrelevant. As unrealistic as his vision
might be, it is important nonetheless because the CNDD may
very well be hearing the same pitch, and possibly buying into
parts if not all of it. Sylla may not have met with Dadis,
but his name and that of his party's have been increasingly
visible within CNDD circles over the past few months.
Sylla's connections are still unclear, but he is emerging as
a player of note. END COMMENT.
RASPOLIC