NEW YORK, 24th September 2026 – President Dr. Julius Maada Bio on Wednesday held bilateral talks with Guinean President General Mamady Doumbouya on the margins of the 81st United Nations General Assembly.
The meeting, held at UN Headquarters in New York, focused on deepening the longstanding historical and brotherly ties between Sierra Leone and Guinea, with emphasis on regional peace, security and economic cooperation.
“I met with President Mamady Doumbouya, the President of the Republic of Guinea, in New York. We committed to strengthening our country’s ties for the ongoing benefit of our peoples,” President Bio said in a post on X.
Bio formally invited President Doumbouya to participate in the inaugural West Africa Integration and Investment Summit (WAIIS), slated for early 2027 at the Julius Maada Bio International Conference Centre in Lungi.
The WAIIS, being championed by President Bio in his capacity as Chairman of the ECOWAS Authority of Heads of State, aims to mobilise private capital for cross-border infrastructure, energy and trade.
The Bio-Doumbouya meeting comes at a sensitive time for sub-regional diplomacy. Guinea has been under military rule since Doumbouya, a former French Legionnaire, ousted President Alpha Conde in September 2021. Conakry is currently under ECOWAS sanctions and is expected to hold a constitutional referendum and return to civilian rule in late 2026.
Relations between the two neighbours remain strategic. Guinea and Sierra Leone share a 794km border, strong ethnic ties – particularly between the Kissi, Yalunka and Fulah communities – and key trade corridors. In 2024, Guinea remained one of Sierra Leone’s top sources of imports for agricultural produce.
Security cooperation was also high on the agenda, with both leaders discussing border management, joint action against drug trafficking and smuggling along the Kambia-Pamelap corridor, and stability in the Sahel.
President Doumbouya, who is attending UNGA for the first time since taking power, thanked President Bio for his engagement as ECOWAS Chair and expressed willingness to strengthen cooperation.
President Bio has held a series of bilateral meetings in New York this week, including with the UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, World Bank President Ajay Banga, and Irish President Catherine Connolly, as Sierra Leone concludes its two-year non-permanent seat on the UN Security Council.
