Research and consulting in Equatorial Guinea
Country Overview:
IOA has conducted research and consulting work focusing on Equatorial Guinea spanning economic, business, political and social aspects of the country. Our analysts foresee no relief against the hold that the Obiang dictatorship has on the country or its oil wealth. Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo has subjected the country to one of the world’s worst human rights records. The business community must operate in one of the least economically free environments in the world.
The economy’s almost complete reliance on oil exports – because these are the most expedient way to enrich the ruling Obiang family – can be reversed in future with a new political dispensation. IOA economists note that traditional export products – (cocoa and coffee) may recapture their former economic importance through investment.
Key opportunities in Equatorial Guinea:
- Substantial oil reserves have brought wealth to many who accommodate the Obiang regime
- Cocoa and coffee were dominant export products in the past and may be used to diversify the economy away from oil in the future
- The country straddles the equator, and its islands in the Atlantic are primed for tourism development
Key concerns/risks in Equatorial Guinea:
- The entrenched Obiang dictatorship is more likely to pass onto a new generation than yield to reform
- IOA analysts forecast the country’s future as continuing stagnation and corruption, with political violence as a possible outcome
- Other than oil infrastructure, other infrastructure is underdeveloped, such as energy and transport
A sample IOA research report on Equatorial Guinea: