Konkouré River

Konkouré River, river, rising in the Fouta Djallon plateau of west central Guinea, West Africa, and flowing in a westerly direction to the Atlantic just north of Sangareya Bay. The river’s 188-mi (303-km) course is much broken by rapids and waterfalls (with drops ranging from 80 to 1,350 ft [24 to 411 m]), which are a source of hydropower. Guinea’s first hydroelectric dam began operation at Grandes Chutes on the Samou River (a small tributary) in 1954; it was the first of the Kalé-Grandes Chutes complex (1963) of dams on the Samou that provide electrical power to Conakry and Kindia. A second series of dams lies on the main course of the Konkouré upstream from Fria; both the Amaria and the Souapiti hydroelectric plants serve the nation’s bauxite-processing industry.

Formerly a major hindrance to land transportation between Conakry and the towns of Boffa and Boké, the Konkouré is now bridged at Ouassou, its head of navigation.