Industry constitutes a small part of Guinea-Bissau's economy, contributing approximately 15% a year to GDP. Industries include a sugar refinery and a rice and groundnut processing plant. Guinea-Bissau ranks sixth in the world in cashew production. Brewing and urban construction are also represented in the industrial sector.
In the late 1980s, Guinea-Bissau attempted to attract foreign interest in several enterprises—a fish-processing plant, a plywood and furniture factory, and a plastics factory. The government moved to raise producer prices and to partially privatize parastatal trading companies during the 1990s, but civil war in 1998 disturbed these plans. In 1999, production resumed with foreign aid.
Oil exploration began in the 1960s, and the oil industry presents hopeful prospects for the country. Guinea-Bissau is in the midst of a border dispute with Senegal over an offshore exploration area, and under a 1995 agreement, the area in dispute is jointly managed by the two countries. Proceeds from the area are divided between Senegal and Guinea-Bissau on an 85–15 ratio, and in the early 2000s, Guinea-Bissau was negotiating for better terms to the agreement.