Foreign Relations of the United States, 1958–1960, Africa, Volume XIV

330. Memorandum of Conversation⁰

SecDelMC/119

Riverdale, New York, October 6, 1960, 11:30 a.m.¹

SUBJECT

• Konkoure Dam²

PARTICIPANTS

• U.S.
  • J.C. Satterthwaite, Assistant Secretary
  • T.A. Cassilly
• Guinea
  • President Sekou Toure
  • Telli Diallo, Ambassador to the U.S.
  • Ismael Toure, Minister of Public Works, Transport and Communications
  • Damantang Camara, Minister of the Interior

Mr. Satterthwaite observed that we had made an offer on the Konkoure Dam which, in conjunction with the offer of the private aluminum producers, constituted a serious proposal to aid Guinea. We were waiting for a reply to our offer of July 19 to resurvey the dam; as the President was aware, this was the same procedure we had followed in the case of the Volta River Dam in Ghana. There the new study had resulted in lowering the estimated cost of the dam by a very large margin.

Mr. Toure reaffirmed that the Konkoure Dam was the cornerstone of Guinea’s development plans. What he reproached the US for, in a friendly manner, was that although there was no country in a better position to aid Africa (the US had no colonies there and was the most advanced nation in the world), the US apparently had little understanding of the needs of Africa or the desperate urgency of those needs. For example, when the announcement was made last year that 150 scholarships would be offered Guinea, every one expected these students would leave at once. If the US could have sent five students the same week of the announcement, the effect would have been extraordinary. Now, however, a year has passed, and frankly, much of the effectiveness of this offer has been lost.

Moreover, Guinea sent an urgent circular appeal to the US, UK, West Germany, the USSR, Yugoslavia and Switzerland for aid in the Three-Year Plan,³ the President declared. He himself had repeatedly explained Guinea’s needs to Ambassador Morrow. President Eisenhower’s reply⁴ had been satisfactory in principle but Toure said he had been definitely disappointed by the qualifying remarks. It was apparent that the US did not understand the great importance which Guinea places on its Three-Year Plan.

The National Economic Convention scheduled for the middle of October has been postponed until the end of the month or the beginning of November. At that time all the replies to the circular appeal will be submitted for general discussion and after each offer has been considered, the Government’s decision will be announced. All foreign ambassadors will be invited to participate in these proceedings.

According to the President, the USSR has offered Guinea a long-term loan to finance the entire construction of the Konkoure Dam and is prepared to send all the technicians and equipment necessary to begin work on January 1, 1961. If the USSR, which is not acquainted with this project, had replied that it would have to undertake a new survey,⁵ the Guineans would have some understanding of the necessity for such a delay; they find it more difficult to understand why the US, which already has the French plans for this dam, should propose another survey. If the US should make an offer now equivalent to that of the Soviets’, however, there would be no question that Guinea would accept the US offer instead. When Mr. Satterthwaite indicated that the Guineans might find they had committed themselves too heavily to the Soviets and were no longer in a position to choose who would or would not participate in projects in Guinea, Mr. Toure replied that he would prefer to have the US build the dam but was obliged to begin work as soon as possible on the basis of the best possible offer.

Mr. Satterthwaite emphasized that we wanted to help Guinea on this project and had had a great deal of experience in building dams. The President replied that the Soviets were prepared to supply everything that was needed. He had asked Fria and Olin Mathieson repeatedly to construct the dam but they had never agreed to do so. (Ambassador Diallo interjected that the US offer was tied in with the projected aluminum smelter to be built by a consortium of Western producers including Olin Mathieson.) When Toure complained that the International Bank also had not helped, Mr. Satterthwaite pointed out that Guinea was not a member of the Bank.

As far as the $35 million Soviet line of credit was concerned, the President declared that Guinea had utilized none of it so far. Mr. Ismael Toure corrected him to say that Guinea had in fact bought some Soviet jeeps. The President agreed and pointed out that he would have preferred American jeeps but he had received no satisfaction on his repeated requests for them. The Soviet line of credit was to be used principally to modernize Guinea’s agriculture but, if necessary, it could all be devoted to construction of the dam.

When the Assistant Secretary indicated that it was sometimes difficult for democracies to operate as fast as authoritarian governments, Toure commented that he, nevertheless, “knew” that $13 million had been allotted for US aid to Guinea (which he noted with satisfaction was one of the highest amounts allotted any African country) but that “not one dollar” had yet arrived in Guinea. The Assistant Secretary said he would discuss this matter further with Ambassador Diallo in Washington in order to make sure our figures agreed with those of the President.

When Mr. Satterthwaite observed that the Soviets were not disinterested in their aid offers, the President replied that he was convinced the USSR was not doing this for selfish interests but genuinely to help Guinea.

0. Source: Department of State, Central Files, 770B.2614/10–660. Official Use Only. Drafted by Cassilly.
1. President Touré was attending the U.N. General Assembly; the conversation took place at his residence.
2. For another portion of the conversation concerning the Congo, see Document 235.
3. A letter of July 19 from Touré to Eisenhower described Guinea’s bauxite and iron deposits, discussed the Konkouré project, and stated that Guinea appealed to friendly powers for assistance. It is filed with an August 12 memorandum from Herter to Eisenhower which states that Touré had apparently sent similar requests to a number of other countries on the same day. (Eisenhower Library, Whitman File, International Series)
4. Eisenhower’s reply, dated August 15, stated that the United States was prepared to proceed with the survey offered in its July 19 aide-mémoire as soon as it received Guinea’s response. (Ibid.)
5. A handwritten note in the margin next to this sentence reads: “They did so reply.”