Guinea has given exclusive rights of its most precious mineral, the bauxite, to mining giant Glencore. Government of Guinea picked the multinational commodity trading firm as the official off -taker of the bauxite which is produced by the country's state-owned Nimba Mining Company. The move is to allow the West African nation to exercise tighter oversight over export volumes and diversify its global buyer base. Secured through an international tender, the partnership includes a 350 million dollars advance from Glencore to help Nimba Mining scale production from 4 million tons to a target of 12 million tons by 2027. Bauxite is considered a critical and highly valuable commodity because it is the world's primary raw source for aluminium production AND Guinea holds the world's largest reserves of this mineral. We spoke to Jose' Nico Dju', West Africa Economist, based in Guinea Bissau

<p>Guinea has given exclusive rights of its most precious mineral, the bauxite, to mining giant Glencore. Government of Guinea picked the multinational commodity trading firm as the official off -taker of the bauxite which is produced by the country's state-owned Nimba Mining Company. The move is to allow the West African nation to exercise tighter oversight over export volumes and diversify its global buyer base. Secured through an international tender, the partnership includes a 350 million dollars advance from Glencore to help Nimba Mining scale production from 4 million tons to a target of 12 million tons by 2027. Bauxite is considered a critical and highly valuable commodity because it is the world's primary raw source for aluminium production AND Guinea holds the world's largest reserves of this mineral. We spoke to Jose' Nico Dju', West Africa Economist, based in Guinea Bissau</p>