Guinea, Guinea, Guinea

Located on the swampy Western corner of Africa, Guinea-Bissau is something of a non-entity in world affairs. This small former Portuguese colony is wedged between Guinea-Conakry and Senegal and its pluriethnic population speak a variety of languages, with the Portuguese-based Kriol serving as a lingua franca. Its lack of notoriety is not helped by the fact it shares a name with three other sovereign states worldwide, as well as a beloved family pet.

With sky-high levels of crime, danger and poverty, Guinea-Bissau receives fewer tourists per year than North Korea. The few functioning hotels in the capital are likely to be filled with aid workers or diplomats who drew the short straw when it came to postings. In the 40 years since independence from the Portuguese, no President has fulfilled a term of office, with civil war and coups d’etat aplenty in the nation’s short history.

But economic woes have led to the emergence of an alternative industry. Drugs. According to a UN report, Guinea-Bissau is in danger of becoming the world’s first ‘narco-state’, as drug traffickers use its multitude of isolated islets as a transit point for cocaine on its way to the streets of London and Lisbon. In a country where a majority live on less than a dollar a day, the police and army are easily bought, allowing the drug importers to operate with impunity.

But all is not lost. Some efforts are being made to modernise the economy, and its unspoilt beaches and islets could become home to an eco-tourism industry, whilst a large diaspora sends healthy remittances from Europe and Brazil. The past four decades have seen one setback after another in Guinea-Bissau, and recent elections will provide hope that a new government will kickstart the economy, impose law and order and instill the nation with the values and ideals of liberation laid down by the national icon, Amilcar Cabral.