Equatorial Guinea
Equatorial Guinea exhibits low-range performance across all categories of the Global State of Democracy framework, and it falls among the bottom 25 per cent of countries with regard to all factors except for Freedom of Religion, Direct Democracy, and Electoral Participation. Over the last five years, Equatorial Guinea has not experienced any notable advances or declines. The country is an upper-middle income republic and an oil-rich nation. Notably, Equatorial Guinea is the wealthiest country in Sub-Saharan Africa but suffers from a poor human rights record. Frequently cited as the textbook case of the resource curse, such (oil) wealth remains heavily concentrated, and most of the population is impoverished and reliant on agricultural production, with poor access to basic healthcare and education. The majority of exports are oil-related, including gas and crude petroleum.
Present-day Equatorial Guinea was first inhabited by the Pygmy and Ndowe tribes, before Bantu migrations brought coastal tribes and later the majority Fang, who came from the continental region. Control of the country was then contested by multiple European powers before coming under the control of the Spanish in the 19th century. Equatorial Guinea became an independent nation in 1968. Since then, it has only been governed by two authoritarian presidents. Francisco Macías Nguema ruled from 1968 to 1979, and Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo – the world’s longest-serving leader – deposed Nguema in a coup in 1979. Since the discovery of oil in 1996, cautious steps toward democratization ended and President Obiang has further consolidated his power in a successful attempt to control the country’s oil rents. Proceeds from oil production flow into the hands of only a small elite, and the regime utilizes clientelism and repression to maintain its power. Elections are not free and fair, and human rights abuses and arbitrary detentions are commonplace. There is only one legal opposition party (members of which face detention and torture), the governing party holds every seat in the legislature, and Obiang regularly receives more than 95 per cent of votes in elections – including in his reelection to a sixth term in 2022.
For the regime, politics is driven by the goal of maintaining its oil wealth and pursuing large-scale infrastructure projects, which account for about 80 per cent of the state’s budget. For the general population, health and education are the most salient issues, as only 65 per cent of people have access to basic drinking water, vaccination rates are among the worst in the world, and nearly 40 per cent of children are not enrolled in primary school. Despite its high GDP per capita, Equatorial Guinea performs poorly in the Human Development Index due to extreme wealth inequality. Graft is also endemic, as the country is among the most corrupt in the world.
While the country has made some progress toward gender equality, violence and discrimination against women remain common, and pregnant girls are banned from attending school. While female representation in the legislature has improved, women suffer low levels of employment and high rates of gender-based violence. The country’s minority ethnic groups suffer discrimination and persecution, most notably the Bubi people on the island of Bioco, who have been subject to property expropriation and restrictions on their freedom of movement. Equatorial Guinea’s LGBTQIA+ community has been the subject of state-perpetrated human rights abuses, including torture and forced evictions.
Looking ahead, the key indicators of democratic performance are likely to remain constant, with little prospect of democratization. It will be important, however, to watch the political impact of declining oil production, on which Equatorial Guinea’s economy and the power of its regime remain dependent.
Last updated: July 2024
https://www.idea.int/democracytracker/
January 2023
Dissident dies in prison while his alleged kidnappers are under investigation
Julio Obama Mefuman, a prominent political dissident and dual national of Spain and Equatorial Guinea, died in prison in January. His cause of death was not immediately known. He had been kidnapped from South Sudan in 2020 by agents of the Equatorial Guinea government who alleged that he had participated in a coup attempt. A week before Mefuman died, it was reported that a high court in Spain (the Audiencia Nacional) had opened an investigation into three senior security officials in Equatorial Guinea who are alleged to have led the kidnapping and torture of Mefuman and an associate (who is also a Spanish citizen). One of the individuals under investigation is Carmelo Ovono Obiang, a son of President Obiang.
Sources: El Pais, The Observer, Agence France Presse
November 2022
Africa’s longest-serving president wins election to extend 43-year tenure
Equatorial Guinea is a consolidated authoritarian regime, so it was not a surprise that President Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo was declared the winner of the presidential election on 20 November. Already in power for 43 years, the 80-year-old was elected to a seven-year term. The official results awarded him 94.5 per cent of the valid votes, with 43 per cent of the voting age population participating in the election. He has never received less than 93 per cent of the votes for the president. His political party, the Democratic Party of Equatorial Guinea (PDGE) also won all 100 seats in the lower chamber of the legislature and all 55 seats in the upper chamber. The leader of the only legal opposition party (Andrés Esono Ondo of the Convergence for Social Democracy) denounced the election as fraudulent. However, the African Union electoral observation mission stated that “the general elections were in accordance with international standards and the national legal framework governing those elections.”
Sources: Le Figaro, The National, France24, African Union, International IDEA
September 2022
World’s longest-serving president moves to extend his time in office
Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo has been the president of Equatorial Guinea since seizing power in a coup d’état in 1979. His political party, the Democratic Party of Equatorial Guinea (PDGE), announced in September that he will run again in the election that will take place in November. Equatorial Guinea has been a dominant party state for decades, as the PDGE and the president’s inner circle control the most important offices of the state, and all but one of the seats in the bicameral legislature. In the last election in 2016, Obiang was said to have received more than 90 per cent of the votes.
Sources: Le Point, Foreign Policy, Reuters, Africa News
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