International Driving Permit in Guinea

🗓 Facts checked against Guinea's road-traffic law and official sources. Research last updated: 29 July 2026. You may copy this information only if you provide a link back to this page.

⚠ This page is general information about driving rules, not legal advice. Rules change, and each authority applies its own — confirm your case with the relevant authority before you drive.

ℹ We are a private company. We are not a government body, a licensing or issuing authority, or a treaty organisation, and we are not affiliated with, endorsed by, or acting for any of them. The International Driver's Document we sell is a translation of your national driving licence: it is not a driving licence, and it is not a government-issued document.

• Driving in Guinea: key facts
• Do you need an International Driving Permit in Guinea?
• What side of the road does Guinea drive on?
• How long can you drive in Guinea with a foreign licence?
• Is Guinea a party to the 1949 or 1968 Road Traffic Convention?
• Why acceptance of your licence varies from place to place
• Can you drive in Guinea with your country's licence?
• Where to get an International Driving Permit
• Moving to Guinea? Rules for new residents
• Driving rules in Guinea tourists get fined for
• Read more about driving in Guinea
• Sources

Driving in Guinea: key facts

Do you need an International Driving Permit in Guinea?

Guinea is a party to neither road-traffic convention (per the UN depositary status lists: 1949 Geneva, 103 parties; 1968 Vienna, 91 parties — Guinea appears in neither), so an IDP carries no treaty entitlement here. Guinea's road code (Loi L/2018/023/AN of 20 June 2018) does not mention an international driving permit. It punishes driving a motor vehicle without a driving licence valid for its category (art. 16), and it applies to foreign drivers in accordance with reciprocity agreements between the ECOWAS member states and third states made under the international conventions (art. 1); it names no such agreement and does not say whether a foreign licence or an IDP is valid in Guinea, so that is not established. Check with the Direction nationale des transports terrestres of the Ministry of Transport or a Guinean embassy before you travel. In advice to its own citizens, the French government says that to drive temporarily in Guinea for up to three months, French nationals must have their valid French licence accompanied by an international driving permit ('Pour circuler temporairement en Guinée, jusqu’à trois mois, les ressortissants français doivent disposer de leur permis français valide accompagné d’un permis de conduire international'); UK government advice to UK licence holders is: "You'll need to have both the 1949 version of the international driving permit (IDP) and your UK driving licence with you in the car."

• Tourists and short-term visitors: Guinea's road code punishes driving without a licence valid for the vehicle's category (art. 16) and applies to foreign drivers in line with reciprocity agreements it does not name (art. 1); it does not say whether a foreign licence or IDP is valid. Check with the authorities before you travel; the answer below says what is known.

No specific penalty for driving without the required document was verified from an authoritative source. Official source.

What side of the road does Guinea drive on?

Guinea drives on the right-hand side of the road, and overtaking is done on the left. Cars in Guinea are left-hand drive.

How long can you drive in Guinea with a foreign licence?

Guinea's road code (Loi L/2018/023/AN) names no visitor period, and no published Guinean rule setting one was found. French government advice to French nationals is that for temporary driving of up to three months they must have a valid French licence accompanied by an IDP, and that for a longer stay the licence must be exchanged for a Guinean one. (France Diplomatie — Guinée, Informations utiles, updated 15 September 2026: "Pour circuler temporairement en Guinée, jusqu'à trois mois, les ressortissants français doivent disposer de leur permis français valide accompagné d'un permis de conduire international")

Planning to move to Guinea? Different rules apply once you become a resident — see the residents section below.

Is Guinea a party to the 1949 or 1968 Road Traffic Convention?

Guinea is party to neither the 1949 Geneva Convention nor the 1968 Vienna Convention on Road Traffic. An official convention IDP cannot be issued in Guinea, and convention rules do not bind it — licence acceptance is governed purely by local law and bilateral arrangements.

Why acceptance of your licence varies from place to place

Whether a foreign country accepts your driving licence hangs on a tangle of variables: three different road-traffic conventions signed decades apart (1926, 1949, 1968) — the oldest predates the United Nations itself, and only the latter two were concluded under it — countries at different stages of joining each (signed vs. accepted vs. ratified), licences printed in alphabets local police can't read, vehicle-category systems that don't line up between countries, document generations that may not meet a convention's format even when the country is a member, bilateral deals between individual states, and local laws that are looser in one place and stricter in the next. The same licence can be fine at one border and rejected at the next — even at the next rental desk. The International Driving Permit exists to cut through most of it: a standardized, multilingual presentation of your existing licence, with harmonized category symbols, that most officials can read at a glance. It doesn't replace your national licence or grant new rights — you carry both — and it doesn't guarantee acceptance: a handful of destinations still require a local permit alongside or instead of it, but for most it meaningfully improves your odds.

Can you drive in Guinea with your country's licence?

This answer is for tourists and temporary visitors. Moving to Guinea as a resident? Different rules apply — see the residents section below. Guinea is party to neither road-traffic convention, so no foreign licence is recognised by treaty. Guinea's road code (Loi L/2018/023/AN) applies to foreign drivers in accordance with reciprocity agreements made under the international conventions (art. 1), but it names none and does not say whether a foreign licence or an IDP is valid in Guinea, so that is not established for any licence: check with the authorities before you travel. French and UK government advice to their own citizens is to carry the national licence together with an IDP (the UK names the 1949 model), and French advice is that for a stay of more than three months the licence must be exchanged for a Guinean one at the Direction nationale des transports terrestres. UK government advice warns of police and militia checkpoints across the country, poor and seasonally flooded roads and unreliable fuel supply, and says there are no emergency services in Guinea. Rules change — confirm with official sources before you travel. Last verified: July 2026.

Legend: "1949" — Geneva Convention on Road Traffic (IDP valid up to 1 year); "1968" — Vienna Convention (IDP valid up to 3 years).

Not established — the record does not settle whether you may drive here on this licence; confirm with the destination's licensing authority before you rely on it. The answer below says what could not be confirmed.

What you need to carry — Check with local authorities before travel

Why — Guinea's road code punishes driving without a licence valid for the vehicle's category (art. 16) and applies to foreign drivers in line with reciprocity agreements it does not name (art. 1); it does not say whether a foreign licence or IDP is valid. [1]

Sources and notes for the answer above

[1] Loi L/2018/023/AN du 20 juin 2018 portant Code de la route de la République de Guinée, arts. 1 and 16

Where to get an International Driving Permit

An International Driving Permit must be obtained before you travel, and only certain countries may issue one to you — you cannot buy an official IDP from an unrelated country. Under the 1968 Vienna Convention it may be issued only by the Contracting Party where you normally reside and which issued or recognizes your licence — by that Party's competent authority or by an association it has duly empowered. Under the 1949 Geneva Convention it is issued by the competent authority of a Contracting State, or by an association that authority has duly empowered. Which body that is varies by country: a government agency in some, an authorized motoring club in others.

• Travelling from Guinea? Guinea's IDPs are issued by Direction Nationale des Transports Terrestres. Official site. Guinea is party to neither road-traffic convention, so the permit is issued outside the UN convention framework and is not an official convention IDP — check that your destination accepts it.
• Travelling from another country? Ask that country's driving-licence authority which body it authorizes to issue IDPs — a government agency in some countries, an authorized motoring club in others.

Separately, IDA offers a digital International Driver's Document — a translation of your national licence that you carry alongside it. It is not an International Driving Permit issued under the 1949 or 1968 conventions by the body your country authorizes for that purpose, and it is not a certified, sworn or otherwise official translation: no authority certifies it, and where a country requires an official or certified translation by law, our document does not satisfy that requirement. It is a private translation meant to make your national licence readable at rental desks and roadside checks.

Moving to Guinea? Rules for new residents

France's foreign ministry advises French nationals that for a stay of more than three months the French licence must be exchanged for a Guinean one, which can be done at the Direction nationale des transports terrestres of the Ministry of Transport ('Pour les séjours de plus de trois mois, le permis français devra être échangé contre un permis guinéen. Cette démarche peut être effectuée auprès de la Direction nationale des transports terrestres du ministère des transports.'). Guinea's road code (Loi L/2018/023/AN) does not deal with exchanging a foreign licence, and no published Guinean rule on it was found: check with that directorate before a longer stay. Foreign-government travel advice.

Driving rules in Guinea tourists get fined for

• Mandatory equipment: No verified Guinean mandatory-equipment list. Before setting off check tyres and spare, brakes, lights, seat belts, warning triangle, fuel reserve and valid insurance.
• Drink-driving: No official Guinean BAC limit or penalty table could be located in any public source. Treat the safe limit as zero. No published figure. Impaired driving exposes you to arrest, prosecution and refusal of insurance cover.
• Speed limits: Drive on the right. No official current Guinean speed-limit table could be verified online; obey posted km/h signs and slow well in advance of checkpoints, potholes, flooding, pedestrians and unlit vehicles.
• Carry the original national licence, identity documents and the vehicle papers in the vehicle; French and UK government advice is to carry an IDP with the licence. France Diplomatie: "Les contrôles étant nombreux sur les routes, notamment à l'entrée et à la sortie des villes, il convient d'avoir avec soi ses documents d'identité et les papiers du véhicule." UK FCDO: "Police and local militia maintain checkpoints across the country".
• Road quality is poor. UK FCDO, verbatim: "Many roads are unmetalled and have deep potholes as damage caused during the rainy season goes unrepaired"; "Roads, even within Conakry and other principal towns, can be flooded and become impassable"; "The standard of road maintenance is low".
• UK FCDO, verbatim: "Fuel is not always available at petrol stations. Carry an emergency supply on long journeys".
• Public and shared transport is not a safe fallback. UK FCDO, verbatim: "Taxis and long-distance buses are generally poorly maintained, overcrowded, and the drivers are often unqualified"; "The use of moto-taxis and shared taxis/tuk-tuks is not advised." For night arrivals: "If you plan to arrive in Conakry on a flight after dark, arrange your airport transfer before you travel".
• Most major hotels and travel agencies hire out cars, with a driver if required — often the simpler option given checkpoints and road conditions. A French IDP must be applied for from ANTS well before departure; a UK 1949 IDP cannot be bought outside the UK.

Read more about driving in Guinea

• 10 Interesting Facts About Guinea
• Best Places to Visit in Guinea

Watch what driving in Guinea looks like

A few minutes of real POV footage is the fastest way to feel confident before your first drive in Guinea:

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Sources

1. National road-traffic law
2. France Diplomatie — Guinée, Informations utiles, updated 15 September 2026: "Pour circuler temporairement en Guinée, jusqu'à trois mois, les ressortissants français doivent disposer de leur permis français valide accompagné d'un permis de conduire international"
3. UK FCDO Guinea — Safety and security: 1949 IDP + UK licence, road conditions, fuel, checkpoints, taxis and buses
4. UK FCDO Guinea — Getting help: "There are no emergency services in Guinea"; Conakry clinic contacts
5. UN depositary status, 1949 Geneva Convention on Road Traffic (103 parties) — Guinea not a party
6. UN depositary status, 1968 Vienna Convention on Road Traffic (91 parties) — Guinea not a party
7. Direction Nationale des Transports Terrestres — authorized IDP issuer in Guinea
8. UN Treaty Collection — 1949 Geneva Convention on Road Traffic
9. UN Treaty Collection — 1968 Vienna Convention on Road Traffic