Equatorial Guinea

OVERVIEW

The Republic of Equatorial Guinea is a former Spanish colony on the west central coast of sub-Saharan Africa. The republic consists of a mainland section, Rio Muni, and several offshore islands, including Bioko and Annobon, both in the Gulf of Guinea. Rio Muni is bounded on the north by Cameroon, on the east and south by Gabon, and on the west by the Gulf of Guinea. The capital is located at Malabo on the island of Bioko, off the coast of Cameroon.

In the 1970s, widespread human-rights abuses under President Francisco Nguema were instrumental in prompting a third of the population to flee. In 1979, Nguema was overthrown in a military coup by his nephew, Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo, the current president. Francisco Nguema was executed by a firing squad two months after the coup.

Following the discovery of large oil and gas deposits off Bioko in the mid-1990s, Equatorial Guinea's economy had a relatively sharp resurgence, becoming sub-Saharan Africa's third-largest oil exporter. In 2004, by the same measure, the nation had the fastest growing economy in the world.

The boom also energized the separatist Movement for the Self-Determination of Bioko Island (MAIB). Friction between the dominant and more numerous Fang, whose roots are on the mainland, and the minority Bubi, who are natives of Bioko, remains an issue. The Bubi enjoyed a higher living standard during Spanish rule but were widely abused under Nguema in the 1970s. Fifteen MAIB members were sentenced to death in May 1998 on charges of participating in a January 1998 attack on a Bioko Island police facility. As of January 2023, MAIB’s level of activity is ambiguous. However, in a letter addressed to the Permanent Mission of Equatorial Guinea to the United Nations Office and other international organizations in Geneva and dated Dec. 29, 2016, an independent expert on the promotion of a democratic and equitable international order assessed that the Bubi had no independent control over Bioko Island resources, were excluded from decision-making and politics generally and had been left in significant poverty. Whether or not MAIB remains active, it has been ineffective.

Equatorial Guinea's security concerns are primarily internal, although there have been disputes with Nigeria and Gabon. Nigeria once threatened to annex Bioko after reports that Nigerian laborers on the island were being mistreated. Relations with Nigeria and Gabon have since improved.

In March 2004, as many as 70 apparent mercenaries led by a Briton named Simon Mann were arrested in Zimbabwe for plotting the overthrow of the government in Equatorial Guinea. Mann pleaded guilty to attempting to possess dangerous weapons and received a four-year sentence. In 2007, he was released early and extradited to Equatorial Guinea, where he was sentenced to 34 years in prison. Mann was pardoned on humanitarian grounds in 2009 after spending one year in jail. In October 2011, he told the Mail newspaper in the U.K. that MI6 and the CIA knew of the plot and secretly supported its aims.

Mark Thatcher, a businessman and son of the former British prime minister (1979-1990), was arrested in 2009 in South Africa. He was charged with financing the attempted coup. He pleaded guilty to a lesser charge and received a suspended sentence and a fine in 2005.

Armed militants attacked the presidential palace in Malabo in February 2009. The attack was repulsed. The Equatorial Guinea government blamed the Nigeria-base Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND). The group denied the accusation. Sixteen people were arrested in relation to the tank.

Equatorial Guinea ranked 172 out of 180 nations on the Transparency International’s 2021 Corruption Perceptions Index because it has a long-established reputation internationally for graft. The country was sub-Saharan Africa’s third-richest country, but four-fifths of the population lived below the poverty threshold according to World Bank figures for 2006, the latest available.

Domestic Politics

Equatorial Guinea's first multiparty presidential election was held in 1996. There were widespread reports of fraud, and the president wound up credited with 99 percent of the vote. After complaining that legislative elections had been fixed, dozens of members of the opposition Popular Union were arrested in 1999. In 2002, 68 opposition members were arrested for alleged involvement in a coup attempt.

In November 2005, 23 military officers in Equatorial Guinea were convicted of treason in connection with the attempted coup the year before; they were given sentences ranging from 12 to 30 years. Fifty-four others were acquitted in closed-door hearings.

Obiang Nguema was re-elected president in December 2002 under questionable circumstances, reportedly receiving 100 percent of the vote. Again, accusations of fraud and irregularities were widespread. Nguema ran again in 2009 and obtained 95 percent of the reported votes. That election's legitimacy was also questioned.

The government-initiated reforms in 2011 to amend the constitution and improve prison conditions. The constitutional changes called for restricting future presidents to two five-year terms and the development of a commission to facilitate dialogue between the ruling and opposition parties.

Parliamentary elections were held in May 2013. Representatives of the main political opposition were charged with fomenting unrest before the voting. Numerous opposition activists were arrested. The ruling party won 99 of 100 seats in the lower house and 54 of 55 Senate seats. The U.S. and other governments again voiced concerns over the electoral process.

Ahead of a round of national dialogue in October 2014, President Obiang granted amnesty to exiled leaders for their political crimes, trying to convince them to join the talks. The government said it would transport exile politicians then in Europe to the meetings free of charge.

The meeting, only the third of its kind, was held in November 2014 in the capital of Malabo. Participants reviewed national laws on political participation, expression, and organization, according to a government statement. Changes were agreed upon for election laws and political parties.

In February 2017, the government moved the capital of Equatorial Guinea from Malabo on the island of Bioko to Djibloho (also known as Oyala), an unfinished city deep in the rainforest on the mainland. President Obiang said that the move was intended to use oil funds to create a "city of the future" as well as to prevent any attempt to overthrow his government. Djibloho is surrounded by several national parks and close to the eastern border with Gabon. The project’s plans were first announced a decade before, and construction had been ongoing for years. The BBC reported in early 2017 that the city included a five-star hotel, a championship golf course, a conference center and a university.

In April 2016, President Obiang won re-election with 93.7 percent of the votes cast. Obiang extended his role as Africa's longest-serving leader, having ruled for 37 years. The election commission said voter turnout was almost 93 percent.

The ruling Democratic Party of Equatorial Guinea (DPGE) won 99 percent of votes in the legislative, municipal and presidential elections in November 2022. Opposition leaders said the election was a “total fraud” and accused election officials of casting ballots on behalf of voters or forcing them to vote for the DPGE. The United States and European Union expressed concern over harassment and intimidation of political opposition and civil society. President Obiang won his sixth term. His 43 years in power were the longest of any living leader in the world with the exception of monarchs.

Corruption

By virtually all metrics, Equatorial Guinea registers poorly in terms of graft and corruption. Transparency International puts its budget openness at the "scant to none" level.

The 2017 Index of Economic Freedom (compiled by the Heritage Foundation in Washington, D.C., and the Wall Street Journal) places the nation at 174 of 180 countries ranked) and 44th out of 47 countries in sub-Saharan Africa. The oil boom, said the Index in 2016, largely benefited a "corrupt government and the small group of presidential cronies" on the receiving end of the petroleum sales.

In October 2011, the U.S. Justice Dept. unsealed a civil forfeiture complaint against Teodoro Nguema Obiang Mangue, son of the president and a government minister, alleging that he had used his position to acquire more than US$100 million through the illegal sale of Equatorial Guinea's natural resources and money-laundering in the U.S. The money was used, said Justice, for "more than US$1.8 million worth of Michael Jackson memorabilia, a US$38.5 million Gulfstream G-V jet, a US$30 million house in Malibu, Calif., and a 2011 Ferrari automobile valued at more than US$530,000."

The president's family appealed the seizure of the cars and property. However, in November 2012, an appeals court in Paris upheld the move. The family asked the International Court of Justice to order France to end the investigation.

In March 2014, Teodoro Mangue was placed under formal investigation in France for money-laundering. He denied wrongdoing and said his wealth was amassed through legitimate business dealings. France issued an arrest warrant for him in 2012 and seized his mansion and several cars in Paris.

A California judge in October 2014 ordered Mangue to forfeit US$30 million of his considerable assets (cited above). Under the order, much of the money would go to charities that aid people in Equatorial Guinea. By October 2016, the U.S. Justice Dept. had recovered US$30 million and was seeking an additional US$70 million.

In September 2016, the office of France's financial prosecutor announced that Mangue would face trial for suspected money-laundering. Mangue sought to have his case dropped because of diplomatic immunity. However, the highest court in France ruled that the case pertained "exclusively to his private life in France" and not to his official functions.

In June 2016, Equatorial Guinea asked the International Court of Justice (ICJ) at The Hague to block the trial. The ICJ ruled in December 2016 that it lacked the jurisdiction to halt the case. However, the ICJ did grant a request to give a building diplomatic immunity. This blocked searches by French authorities.

Swiss authorities also became involved in the case in October 2016 at the request of their French counterparts. In November 2016, authorities seized 11 luxury cars belonging to Mangue as part of the criminal proceedings. A spokesman for Equatorial Guinea denied that Mangue owned the vehicles and said they were owned by the government. Officials in the Netherlands also confiscated a 76-meter (249-foot) yacht estimated to be worth US$100 million.

The trial in France was originally scheduled to start in January 2017. It was rescheduled to June 2017 to give the defense more time to prepare. The trial was completed with Mangue in absentia in 2020 and upheld by an appeals court in 2021. The French judiciary handed Mangue a three-year suspended sentence, a US$33 million (EU€30 million) fine and ordered assets seized during the trial confiscated. The French appeals verdict cannot be further appealed.

International Affairs

In 1972 and 1989, Equatorial Guinea and Gabon squabbled over ownership of several offshore islands believed to be underlain by substantial oil reserves.

In July 2013, North Korea presented Equatorial Guinea’s longtime president with an award named after the former dictator in Pyongyang. Obiang was given the Kim Jong Il Prize "for his commitment to justice, development, peace and harmony."

In July 2014, Equatorial Guinea joined the Community of Portuguese Language Countries (CPLP), an intergovernmental organization aimed at increasing cooperation among lusophone nations. Equatorial Guinea, which previously had Spanish and France as its official languages, added Portuguese as a third to join the CPLP. When it was accepted as a member, New York-based Human Rights Watch called on the CPLP to investigate "ongoing serious" human-rights abuses in Equatorial Guinea.

In August 2014, Equatorial Guinea's ambassador to the United States was suspected of beating his daughter with a wooden chair leg. She was hospitalized. The ambassador was not arrested because he had diplomatic immunity, said police.

In April 2015, China and Equatorial Guinea signed a US$2 billion deal to develop infrastructure in the African country. The deal was finalized after a meeting in Beijing between Chinese President Xi Jinping and President Obiang. The funding came from the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBS).

In March 2015, Equatorial Guinea participated in the U.S.-led Obangame Express exercise in the Gulf of Guinea. The exercise, sponsored by U.S. Africa Command, was designed to improve regional cooperation, maritime awareness, information-sharing and tactical interdiction.

In November 2015, Zimbabwe deployed instructors to Equatorial Guinea to train local forces in military logistics and operations. The training was requested by Equatorial Guinea. The trainers -- Zimbabwean air force and army personnel -- returned home in January 2017.

In January 2017, Equatorial Guinea confirmed it had offered asylum to ousted Gambian leader Yahya Jammeh. The longtime president fled Gambia after West African troops threatened to invade if he did not concede defeat in presidential elections.

In August 2019, Cameroonian military officials said Equatorial Guinea planned to construct a wall along their shared border. An army officer said soldiers had started placing milestones for the planned barrier. Residents on the Guinean side said construction was proceeding rapidly. In December 2017, around 30 armed men from the Central African Republic, Chad and Sudan were arrested in the area where Guinean authorities said there was a coup attempt. Equatorial Guinea had also accused Cameroon of letting West Africans cross into Equatorial Guinea illegally.

In June 2020, the governments of Cameroon and Equatorial Guinea reached an agreement to demarcate their shared border after recent skirmishes. Over the previous two weeks, clashes injured several people and forced hundreds to flee. Local and traditional authorities in Cameroon were instructed to meet with their Equatorial Guinean counterparts to map out a proposed border after which their respective central governments would consider the proposal and decide whether or not to implement it.

Equatorial Guinean authorities detained a French air force helicopter and crew during a stopover in the port city of Bata in August 2021. Authorities said the soldiers landed without authorization and were taken to a police station for questioning. They also accused France of using the incident as a spy operation or provocation. A French spokesman said the helicopter had all necessary permits and French aircraft regularly stopped in Bata, but coordination problems happened frequently. The detention also took place the day after a court in Paris upheld the conviction of Equatorial Guinean Vice President Teodorin Obiang for accumulating luxury property with illegally obtained funds. The soldiers were released a week later. The French ambassador to Equatorial Guinea blamed two technical errors including the wrong identification number being used. Authorities from Equatorial Guinea declined to comment.

In December 2021, the Wall Street Journal reported that China sought to establish a military base to rearm and refit warships in Bata, on the coast of the Equatorial Guinean mainland, where China had previously bult a deepwater port. U.S. officials met with President Obiang Nguema Mbasogo and his son and anticipated successor, Vice President Teodoro Nguema Obiang Mangue to persuade them to reject the Chinese request. The Americans later warned of potential consequences of permitting China to go forward with the base and offered aid and support if Equatorial Guinea refused.

In its 2022 Trafficking in Persons Report, the U.S. State Dept. categorized Equatorial Guinea as a “Tier 2 Watch List” nation for human-trafficking for the third year in a row. The report found that the government had made some moves to reduce human-trafficking, including the nascent implementation of its 2022-2024 victim protection and care national action plan and standard operating procedures. However, the State Dept. also found that Malabo had never convicted a trafficker under its 2004 anti-trafficking law and that there were allegations that senior government officials were complicit in trafficking.

The State Dept. also has noted that Equatorial Guinea has become a destination country for illegal human-trafficking. Children are sent from nearby countries for domestic servitude and market labor, according to the CIA. Women have also reportedly been forced to Equatorial Guinea from Cameroon, Benin, other neighboring countries and China for sexual exploitation.

DEFENSE ESTABLISHMENT

Though nominally democratic, Equatorial Guinea remains an authoritarian country. Recent elections have been widely viewed as fraudulent. The president serves as commander-in-chief (CINC) of the army. All armed forces are subordinate to the CINC. An inspector general of the army assists the CINC in all defense decisions.

Equatorial Guinea has a modest defense budget. Budgeted funds do not allow for significant procurements, and the government relies heavily on foreign donations for its military equipment.

ARMED FORCES

The armed forces include two main elements whose main tasks are internal security and protection of the government: the Guardia National (army) and the Guardia Civil (gendarmerie).

The army is organized into three infantry battalions, each about the combat strength of a reinforced company, plus a headquarters group. The army's headquarters is in Malabo. In the past, Equatorial Guinea has hired Moroccan troops to compensate for the small size of its army. Moroccan units are reportedly better equipped and trained than the local soldiers. Spanish and Moroccan pilots also have flown air force aircraft, which are often shared with the national airline.

CONSCRIPTION

Equatorial Guinea does not maintain a system of conscription; service in all forces is voluntary. There is no reserve force.

PERSONNEL STRENGTH

Equatorial Guinea has around 1,450 personnel on active duty, including 1,100 in the army. The navy has approximately 250 personnel at two bases, Malabo and Bata. About 100 personnel serve in the air force, all based at Malabo.

The Civil Guard has about 2,000 personnel organized into two large companies. Its mission is quick-reaction mobilization and home-guard duties.

(For information on the equipment listed below, search our Weapons Database. All weapons are of Russian origin, unless otherwise denoted.)

 APR14   SEP15   SEP17   JAN23   GROUND COMBAT VEHICLES
                                 Tanks
  3       3       3       3 T-55

                                 Armored Reconnaissance
  6       6       6 ...