With tensions between the Soviet Union and the United States on the world stage, the nations opted to use their political influences, promoting communist and capitalist ideologies respectively to gain power.
However, their plans were quickly undermined as their model failed to succeed due to unaccounted cultural and social differences between the Soviet Union and Guinea.
Between 1957 and 1964, the Soviet Union attempted to implement their economic and social structures within West Africa, Ghana, and Guinea, anticipating triumphs similar to their previous domestic development projects, operating under the impression that their system was superior to any other.
Many countries were seeking out foreign support following their hardfought independence from colonial powers and were vulnerable to the political agendas of the Cold War.
Guinea soon received aid from the Communist Bloc, amounting to a loan of approximately US$127 million, the majority of which was provided by the Soviet Union.
[9] Guinea was in need of economic and technical assistance alongside aid in development of human capital, scholarships, and other programs offered by the Soviets.
[7] While there were many successes to implementation of decolonization policies including shifts in political power and governmental structures, Guinea struggled in the economic sector.
This economic assistance was given without regulations on its use, allowing aid to be used for show pieces such as printing plants, jets, sports stadiums, and hotels, rather than on the improvement of Guinean productivity.
[11] In addition to aid being inefficiently used, Russian agricultural equipment was also poorly made and inapt for Guinea, further impeding the advancement of productivity.
Colonial domination left African economies underdeveloped and heavily reliant on one sided trade with exports of raw materials to Western countries.
[10] In an attempt to develop their national economy, Guinea set up trade monopolies which resulted in extreme costs for their consumers, high levels of corruption, and black markets.
[8] According to French intelligence, “the value of only the first batch [of Czechoslovakian weapons] exceeds Guinea’s entire military budget.”[8] The Guinean Army increased further during the Portuguese invasion of Conakry.
[19] During the Cuban Missile Crisis in 1962, the Soviets requested landing rights at Conakry for reinforcement airlifts en route to Cuba.
Until mid-1978, the airport facilities in Conakry were also used as a stopover point to facilitate aircraft travel to Cuba from the Soviet Union and vice versa, using Guinea's strategic location to their full advantage.
[2] On various occasions, the Soviet Union attempted to gain authorization from the Guinean government to launch its naval activities in Guinea's ports.
[22] Similarly, reports mention that Touré had refused to allow Soviet advisers and Cuban troops to assemble in Guinea en route to Ethiopia in 1977.
[23] Moreover, the increased interference from the Soviets in Guinea's ports, as well as its role in many of the uprisings against president Touré, weakened the relationship between the two nations.