In the rural parts of coastal Guinea (capital Conakry), as in most developing countries, the transmission of technical know-how mainly occurs in the family context, or sometimes via apprenticeship with craftsmen, but not in the framework of organised formal technical training schemes. The rules governing access to these modes of apprenticeship have not yet been fully deciphered. Although training in some occupational activities and their practice are restricted to the members of specific social groups, other activities which have emerged more recently seem to be more open. Using A. Sen’scapabilityapproach, the author describes the extent to which people are really free to learn certain crafts depending on their social circumstances: depending on whether or not they belong to a specific ethnic or social group, whether they are male or female, and what family networks they belong to. Some occupations seem to have a higher social and economic status than others, and the constraints restricting access to technical know-how perpetuate inequalities in terms of capabilities and increase the vulnerability of some social groups