Guinea played a special role in the trans-territorial liberation, nation building and solidarity movements of the 1950s, inspiring a groundswell of intellectual and literary creativity. After independence, Guinea was seen as the “beacon for all Africa for its steadfast moral endeavour” (Jeune Afrique, 1967).

 On October 2, 1958, Guinea held its first election and Sekou Toure became the Nation’s first president. And, in accordance with Toure’s ballot referendum, 97% of the Guinean electorate voted in favor of full independence from France, the only French-African Colony (out of 12) to do so. Toure’s somewhat naive mandate of immediate and uncompromising freedom from French interference may have been to the detriment of economic and financial support and a more transitional path to self-sufficiency.

Over night, French president Charles DeGaulle ordered the infrastructure implemented by the French to be entirely dismantled. Doctors, nurses, teachers, judges, and technicians abruptly abandoned their posts, leaving behind only 20 administrators out of the 4,000 bureaucrats who had held positions prior to Independence. Along with every foreign professional, staff member and civil servant, all administrative resources, including the country’s maps, note paper, medical supplies, telephones, uniforms, even the china plates from the governor’s palace, were removed. No financial or demographic records were left, no technical instructions, contracts or census data.

Subsequently, this traumatized nation had to struggle to re-establish the groundwork for nearly every aspect of socio-economic infrastructure necessary to function and flourish in modern society. The effects of this act of petty spite were to reverberate long afterwards, in the growing paranoia and resentment of Toure, the self-proclaimed “Clairvoyant Guide” of his people. What began as an exhilarating celebration of freedom and hope gradually turned into a one-party personality cult and repressive regime.  However, unlike many African dictators, Toure himself always lived modestly.

After the French withdrawal, Toure immediately sealed up the borders of his nation, ousting all foreigners (even other Africans), tourists, and non-communist journalists and barring further re-entry. He set about concentrating on the 'mental development' of his people, training the masses to “think as one,” and created an indoctrination campaign that shocked many of Toure’s intellectual supporters. 

In a parallel act of small-mindedness, a communist-hating West, led by U.S. policy-makers, helped to further isolate Guinea during the Cold War by refusing to provide aid under terms set by the Guinean government. The Guineans were later forced to seek aid from the Soviet Union, which led to gross mismanagement and further depletion of resources.  By labeling Guinea as a Soviet puppet, the West overlooked the authentic search for freedom and dignity by an oppressed people, as well as the historical roots of Toure’s primarily nationalist agenda.   

Thus, for 25 years Guinea was as isolated as Albania or Outer Mongolia. Between 1958, when it claimed total independence from France, and 1984, on the death of the dictator, the Republic of Guinea was an inaccessible and secretive country.

Yet at the same time, conditions enabled the renaissance of traditional Guinean culture which had suffered a dilution process during centuries of French colonialism. This culture prospered and thrived under Toure’s Authenticite Campaign, initiated shortly after Independence, with the intent to proliferate and nurture the ancient traditions, and to instill pride in being free Africans. The campaign successfully promoted nation-wide musical education, a resurgence of traditional instrument-construction techniques, and the founding of the many touring ballet companies.

The authoritarian, socialist experiment of President Toure was not to succeed, squelched by Cold War politics, DeGaulle’s blatantly spiteful withdrawal and Guinea’s gradual political descent into a repressive personality cult. But, with no tourism or interference from the outside world, the country was left to fall back on its own resources, and was able to reinvigorate family life and village traditions. And Toure’s vigorous support of the indigenous arts and creation of the ballets still bears fruit in present-day Guinea. 

Only in the late 1980s did Guinea begin, hesitantly, to open its borders to tourists and foreigners. Today, Guinea's travel appeal has returned, but with little infrastructure, its tourist facilities remain raw and rustic. Its natural beauty is seen in the sweep of a great arc of mountains and plains, savannah and forests, beautiful unspoiled beaches and mangrove coastlines. The great rivers of West Africa — the Gambia, the Senegal, and the Niger —all rise in Guinea, making it one of the lushest African countries.