Guinea-Bissau

Guinea-Bissau, one of the world’s poorest and most fragile countries, has a population of 2 019 023 million people, (21/07/2021). Guinea-Bissau’s Atlantic Ocean coast is composed of more than 100 islands known as archipelago, the Bijagos.

The country of Guinea-Bissau, borders Senegal to the North and Guinea, to the South and East. Despite its size, is host to a large variety of ethnic groups, languages, and religions. Guinea-Bissau has a History of political and institutional fragility, dating back to its independence from Portugal in 1974. The country is one of the most coup-prone and politically unstable countries in the World.

Since the independence, four successful coups have been recorded in Guinea-Bissau, with another 16 coups attempted, plotted, or alleged. Held in December 2019, the last Presidential elections were followed by a political crisis, as the defeated candidate, Domingos Simões Pereira, alleging existence of fraud and irregularities, filed a motion to challenge the election results which decision by the Supreme Court is still pending. In April 2020, ECOWAS, followed by the European Union, recognized the election of Umaro Sissoco Embalo as President of the Republic and called for the appointment of a new Prime Minister and government based on the results of the legislative elections of March 10, 2019. Outcomes of these legislatives elections indicate a configuration of the political picture, with no absolute majority. However, after the Parliamentary session held on June 29, 2020 a new majority seems to be in place after the approval of the de facto Government’s program.