Africa A to Z: Continental and Country Profiles: Third Edition

Equatorial Guinea

COUNTRY PROFILES A-Z Africa Institute of South Africa | Africa A-Z: Continental and Country Profiles 175 Equatorial Guinea UN IDAD PAZ JUSTICIA Orientation Equatorial Guinea consists of a chunk of African mainland, wedged between Cameroon and Gabon, and several islands of which Bioko Island in the Gulf of Guinea is the largest. The square-shaped mainland area has a 300 km coastline and extends about 200 km inland, with a surface area of some 26 000 km2 . Formerly called Rio Muni by the Spanish colonists, Mainland has a wet tropical climate, supporting dense rainforests, the timber from which is floated down the rivers to the coast. The actual Rio Muni was not a river, rather a large estuary formed by several rivers near the southern border with Gabon. The islets of Corsico and Elobey (repetition), associated with the Spanish slave trade, are situated in the estuary. The Mainland’s largest urban area is the port town of Bata (pop about 70 000). The country’s largest town and national capital is Malabo (pop about 80 000), situated on Bioko Island (known as Fernando Pó Island in the Spanish era). The island is about 2 000 km2 in extent and forms part of a submerged volcanic mountain range of which the exposed points stretch from Mt Cameroon, in Cameroon, to Annobón Island, some 650 km to the south, with the peaks on Bioko Island and the island state of São Tomé and Príncipe in between. (Tiny Annobón Island, opposite the coast of Gabon, forms part of Equatorial Guinea.) Bioko Island’s highest peak, Pico Basile, rises to 3 008 m above sea level; a sunken crater forms Malabo’s natural harbour. Annual rainfall on Bioko exceeds 2000 mm; in combination with the fertile volcanic soils, the wet climate favours the cultivation of tropical crops, notably cocoa and coffee. People The original inhabitants of Bioko Island are the Bubi who are related to the peoples of southern Nigeria and western Cameroon. The Fernandino on Bioko Island are the descendants of slaves and their Krio language has become a local lingua franca. The dominant group in the Mainland area are the Fang who belong to the Bantu linguistic family. Both the Bubi and the Fernandino have been outnumbered by Fang migrants to Bioko Island. A small fishing community of mixed origin inhabit Annobón Island. About two-thirds of the total population of over 500 000 live in the Mainland area; some estimates put the total population at around one million, because there has been large-scale migration into Equatorial Guinea from neighbouring countries in recent years as a result of economic growth. Similarly, there has been substantial rural-urban COUNTRY PROFILES A-Z 176 Africa A-Z: Continental and Country Profiles | Africa Institute of South Africa migration resulting in rapid urban growth, especially on Bioko Island. The island has about 170 000 inhabitants and Annobón Island about 2 000. Spanish and French are the official languages (French since 1997). Christianity was reinstated in 1979 after having been banned during the Macias regime (1968–1979). Most Equato-Guineans are Roman Catholic, though many profess the traditional ethnic worship, especially in the Mainland. Economy Equatorial Guinea has become the world’s fastest growing economy since the development of a petroleum industry during the 1990s; petroleum is extracted from the sea west of Bioko Island and in the coastal waters off Mainland. The oil industry, producing more than 265 000 barrels per day in 2002, replaced cocoa and timber as the country’s main exports. In 2001 petroleum accounted for 96% of foreign earnings and timber and cocoa together for 3%. American oil companies have invested around US$5 billion in Equatorial Guinea’s petroleum sector since the mid-1990s. As a result of double-digit growth rates GDP expanded from US$217 million in 1996 to US$2 347 million in 2002. Although the oil sector contributed 85% of state revenue at that stage, very little of this wealth was filtering down to the ordinary people because of the government’s misdirected economic policies and bad management. The Obiang government preferred to spend the state’s increased revenue on the security forces. The port of Luba on Bioko Island is being developed as a service centre for the oil industry , whereafter the rest of the dilapidated transport sector will probably receive attention as well. The oil boom went together with the decline and neglect of...