THE GEOGRAPHY (Foreign Office UK)
Area: 28,051 sq km (10,831 sq miles)
Population: 469,100 (2001 est.)
Capital City: Malabo
People: Fang (dominant majority from
mainland), Bubi (Bioko island)
Language(s): Spanish (official), French
(official), Fang, Bubi, Ibo
Religion(s): Christian, predominantly
Roman Catholic, indigenous religions
Currency: CFA Franc (fixed to euro)
Major political parties: Partido
Democratico de Guinea Ecuatorial
(PDGE), the ruling party. Convergencia
para la Democracia Social (CPDS),
Union Popular and Accion Democrática
y Progresista (UP) are all registered
parties. Fuerza Democrática
Republicana (FDR) and Movimento de
Autodeterminación de la Isla de Bioko
(MAIB) operate illegally.
GEOGRAPHY
Equatorial Guinea consists of several
small islands off the Cameroon coast
and a small section of the African
mainland between Gabon and
Cameroon. The capital, Malabo, is on
the largest of the offshore islands
(Bioko), although 80% of the population
reside on the mainland. The islands are
volcanic, while the mainland is
forested, rising to mountains inland.
THE HISTORY (Foreign Office UK)
The first inhabitants of the region are
believed to have been pygmies, with
Bantu migrations in the 17th century
the ancestors to the majority of
Equatorial Guinea's population today.
The population on the island of Annobon
was introduced by the Portuguese
from Angola. The island of Bioko
(formerly Fernando Poo) was first
sighted by the Portuguese navigator
Fernao do Poo in 1471. It was ceded to
the Spanish in 1777 who went on to
settle the mainland province of Rio
Muni in 1844. In 1904 the two
territories were united as the Western
African Territories and later renamed
Spanish Guinea.
In 1959, Spanish Guinea was awarded
status similar to the provinces of
metropolitan Spain, with local elections
for Equato-Guinean representatives to
the Spanish parliament. Spanish Guinea
achieved independence from Spain in
March 1968 and became the Republic of
Equatorial Guinea. Following
multi-party elections, President
Francisco Macías Nguema swiftly
established absolute power. In 1970 he
merged all political parties into the
Partido Unico Nacional de los
Trabajadores (PUNT), and in 1972
assumed the title of President for Life.
Up to one third of the population fled
the regime, including most of the
skilled and trained workforce, and the
economy collapsed. Relations with Spain
deteriorated and the country became
dependent upon Eastern bloc countries
for economic and military support.
Teodoro Obiang Nguema M'basogo,
Francisco Nguema's nephew and
commander of the National Guard,
seized power in a coup in August 1979.
Macias was arrested, tried and
executed. At first Obiang ruled through
the army. However, pressure from
exiled political groups and an attempted
coup in April 1981, combined with the
country's need for foreign assistance,
forced Obiang into granting some
political concessions. A new constitution
was approved by referendum in 1981.
Legislative elections were held in
August 1983, with voters choosing
from 41 candidates, all nominated by
the President, to sit in a legislature
with no independent powers.
In 1986, in response to a third coup
attempt President Obiang launched the
Partido Democratico de Guinea
Ecuatorial (PDGE) financed by
obligatory levies on all wages and
salaries. Legislative elections were held
in July 1988 but were flawed. Another
coup attempt was alleged in August.
The first presidential elections since
1968 took place in June 1989 with
Obiang, as the sole candidate, winning
99.2% of the vote.
Recent History
In 1991, following international pressure
and a referendum, President Obiang
reluctantly accepted the principle of
multi-party democracy. A referendum
in November approved a new
constitution with provisions for a
multi-party system. This led to a
transitional government in January
1992, but Obiang declared that
legislative and presidential elections
would be delayed until 1993 and 1996
respectively.
In March 1993 the Government and
opposition agreed a pact for holding
elections, seeking funding from the
international community. Potential
donors responded with a five point list
of reforms that they required before
the money would be forthcoming,
including the redrawing of voter lists
and the establishment of an Electoral
Commission. The Equato-Guinean
Government failed to carry out these
reforms, but election funding was
eventually provided by France and
legislative elections were held in
November 1993. Amidst reports of
violent clashes between the
government's security forces and
protestors, President Obiang declared
a victory for the PDGE, which took 68
of the 80 seats in the National
Assembly. Observers pronounced the
elections flawed.
In December 1993 President Obiang
announced a council of ministers that
did not include any members of the
opposition. The government also
announced that any political gatherings
would need official authorisation. Local
elections were scheduled for
November 1994 but were postponed to
allow for a population census, which
was boycotted by opposition parties.
The elections eventually took place in
September 1995.
In April 1995 Mr Severo Moto, leader
of the Progress Party, and several
other opposition politicians were found
guilty of treason following an alleged
coup plot. All of them received long
prison sentences. But in August, after a
great deal of international pressure,
President Obiang announced that Moto
would be released on humanitarian
grounds along with 11 other political
prisoners. In June 1997 Moto's party
was declared illegal by presidential
decree. This occurred after another
alleged coup plot in which Moto was
said to have been involved. Moto is now
a political refugee based in Spain.
POLITICS
The PDGE continues to be dominated
by the President and his family who
are drawn from the elite Fang minority
tribe. There has been much speculation
about President Obiang's health and his
eventual successor, leading to
increased rivalry amongst the
government and within the family
network. But the constitution does not
limit the number of presidential terms.
The discovery of large oil and gas
deposits in the mid-1990's have in part
stimulated the separatist Mouvement
d'Autodetermination de l'Ile de Bioko
(MAIB) as well as rivalries between the
dominant Fang community from the
mainland and the minority Bubi natives
of Bioko. A number of members of the
secessionist MAIB are presently in
prison, along with members of the
FDR, following the 'attempted coup' in
April/May 2002.
THE ECONOMY (Foreign Office UK)
GDP: US$1.8bn
GDP per head: US$3680
Inflation: 6%
Major Industries: petroleum, fisheries,
timber, natural gas
Major trading partners: US, Spain,
France, Cameroon, China, Japan, UK
Exchange rate: Euro 1 = CFA 655.957
(fixed)
Trade Partners UK Country Profile:
Equatorial Guinea
Equatorial Guinea is one of the fastest
growing economies in the world due to
its recently discovered large reserves
of oil. Production in 1996 was 526m
tonnes but this is due to increase
following large new discoveries in 1998.
The IMF reports that earnings from oil
exports have quadrupled between 1998
and 2001. Equatorial Guinea is predicted
to pump around 300,000 barrels a day
in 2003. It is predicted to be the third
largest oil producer in Sub-Saharan
Africa within the next five years, after
Nigeria and Angola. There are
estimated to be between 10 and 20
years worth of reserves.
Oil wealth has produced impressive
GDP figures, but this masks stagnation
in the rest of the economy and a wide
poverty gap, with wealth concentrated
in the hands of the few. Timber and
agriculture are minor sources of
exports. One of the biggest inhibitors
to improved economic performance is
the lack of educated or skilled
personnel in all walks of life, stemming
from years of underfunding for
education by Macias, and not yet
remedied by Obiang. This will not
improve until there are changes in the
political system and a shift in public
spending towards social development.
INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS
Relations with Neighbours
In September 2000 President Obiang
signed an agreement with President
Obasanjo of Nigeria which ended a
ten-year dispute between the two
countries over the demarcation of
their maritime border in the oil-rich
waters of the Gulf of Guinea. The
agreement is likely to boost the
exploitation of deep-water oil reserves
between Bioko Island and the Niger
delta. Equatorial Guinea also finalised
negotiations with Sao Tome & Principe
over territorial waters and is waiting
to enter into dialogue with Cameroon,
in the wake of the Bakassi ruling.
President Obiang looks to President
Bongo of Gabon for the regional lead.
International Relations
Following a suspension in diplomatic
relations between Spain and Equatorial
Guinea during Macias rule, Spain has
revived its influence in the country,
with a number of high level visits in
2001. However, Equatorial Guinea has
gradually shifted towards its
Francophone neighbours within the
Central African Economic and
Monetary Community (CEMAC), and as
such to France itself. With the
proliferation of oil production, the USA
has become the country's largest single
foreign investor. Although it closed its
embassy in 1995, the USA plans to
reopen a mission soon.
RELATIONS WITH THE UK
An increasing number of British
nationals work in Equatorial Guinea in
oil and related industries on Bioko
Island. The UK is officially represented
in Equatorial Guinea by its diplomatic
mission in Yaounde, Cameroon.
Flags Of The World: Republic of Equatorial Guinea
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