Guinea ? Coup leaders in Guinea named a civilian banker as prime minister Tuesday, making good on a key promise a week after seizing power upon the death of the country’s long-time dictator.

Their choice, Kabine Komara, is a director of the African Export-Import Bank in Cairo, a 14-year-old institution that promotes trade between African states. His selection raises hopes the military junta may also honor other commitments, including holding elections and cracking down on corruption.

This West African nation has an abundance of gold, diamonds, iron, timber and half the world’s reserves of bauxite, the raw material used to make aluminum. But for the past 24 years, Guinea’s treasury has been pillaged by officials loyal to the late President Lansana Conte, and its people have fallen deeper and deeper into poverty.