If it weren’t for its lucrative oil reserves, Equatorial Guinea would probably languish in obscurity, but as things stand it has one of the world’s fastest growing economies. Unfortunately, the benefits of the oil industry are very thinly spread. This is a nation blighted by a rich-poor divide that’s shocking even by African standards: while the elite flash their cash in the expensive, international-style bars, restaurants and casinos of its capital, Malabo, fewer than half the rural population have access to clean drinking water. . .
Obtaining a visa is notoriously fraught – US citizens are among the few nationalities to be spared this ordeal – and to travel around you have to grit your teeth and smile your way through one checkpoint after another. Consequently, the few visitors tend to have the wildlife-rich forests and palm-fringed tropical beaches all to themselves. . .
(continued on p. 272)
Links we like
Embajada Guinea Ecuatorial (London) Embassy site, with basic visitor info.
Guinea-Ecuatorial.net Portal with links to national news (in Spanish).
This page last edited 9 June 2011 © Richard Trillo and Emma Gregg
First-Time Africa: know before you go 