The week ahead Nov 23, 2009
VOTERS in Equatorial Guinea, a tiny oil-rich country in West Africa, go to the polls on Sunday November 29th to re-elect Teodoro Obiang Nguema as president. Mr Nguema has ruled Equatorial Guinea since coming to power in a coup in 1979. (The Economist)
* France stirs ill will as officials consort with African autocrats Nov 19, 2009
A French good-government groups campaign to expose and recover the ill-gotten gains of three of the most notorious leaders X the late Omar Bongo of Gabon, Denis Sassou-Nguesso of the Republic of Congo and Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo of Equatorial Guinea X has been opposed by the prosecutor of the French Republic on the grounds that the group has no standing to sue, and that the facts are ill defined. . (Taipei Times, Taiwan -- World)
Disney sets out to make 'The Passion for kids' Nov 8, 2009
As Simon Mann enjoys his first weekend of freedom for more than five years, it is time for the business associates of the British mercenary to feel the heat over the failed "Dogs of War" in Equatorial Guinea. US President Barack Obama will travel to Texas to attend a memorial service for the victims of the Fort Hood massacre. (Yahoo News -- 'The Passion of the Christ')
Mercenary points finger at Thatcher's son over coup plot Nov 5, 2009
Coup-plotter Simon Mann has returned to Britain after being pardoned in Equatorial Guinea. British mercenary Simon Mann voiced relief on Wednesday as he arrived home after more than five "tough" years behind bars for a failed 2004 coup plot in oil-rich Equatorial Guinea ... The South Africans have been handed over to their embassy in Malabo and were still in the country as South African President Jacob Zuma arrived in Equatorial Guinea for a long planned visit late Tuesday. (Sydney Morning Herald -- World)
Equatorial Guinea Coup-plotter Returns Home To UK Nov 5, 2009
Freed Equatorial Guinea Coup-plotter Says Others Should Face Justice In Case, Returns Home ... (AP) JOHANNESBURG (AP) - British mercenary Simon Mann has threatened to settle some old scores after arriving home Wednesday following more than five years in African jails for a failed plot to take over Equatorial Guinea's oil riches ... Mann left Malabo, Equatorial Guinea's island capital, early Wednesday after serving 15 months of a 34-year sentence; he'd already done three years in Zimbabwe's... (CBS News -- World)
Equatorial Guinea Frees Coup-Plotters Nov 4, 2009
In this June 19, 2008 file photo, British ex-military officer Simon Mann, front right, accused of masterminding a failed coup plot, sits with other defendants at the start of the third day of trial proceedings, at a conference center in Malabo, Equatorial Guinea ... (AP) A British coup-plotter and four South African mercenaries pardoned for attempting the overthrow of Equatorial Guinea's government were freed from prison Tuesday in the tiny oil-rich African nation, the country's chief judge said... (CBS News -- World)
Equatorial Guinea tests Obama vow to hold African leaders accountable Nov 4, 2009
Equatorial Guinea's President, Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo, addresses the 64th United Nations General Assembly at the U.N. headquarters in New York on September 3 ... Monitor correspondent Kari Barber reports on the economic imbalance that Equatorial Guinea finds itself in after oil was discovered in the African nation ... Malabo, Equatorial Guinea - At the United States Embassy in Malabo, the sweltering capital of this tiny West African nation, a picture of each former US ambassador hangs... (Christian Science Monitor -- World)
Guinea and China 'agree big deal' Oct 14, 2009
5bn By 2008 trade tops $100bn - China exports $51bn, imports $56bn Almost all imports come from oil-rich nations: Angola, Equatorial Guinea, Nigeria, the Republic of Congo, and Sudan Sources: China Daily, Reuters, Council on Foreign Relations. The shootings were widely condemned by international leaders and opposition groups within Guinea. (BBC News -- Asia-Pacific)
Bongo elected Gabon president, unrest erupts Sep 4, 2009
Gabon is located in west central Africa, sharing borders with the Gulf of Guinea to the west, Equatorial Guinea to the northwest, and Cameroon to the north, with the Republic of the Congo curving around the east and south. With an area of almost 270,000 square km, Gabon is divided into nine provinces and further into 37 departments. (Xinhuanet, China)
Equatorial Guinea: Thirty Years With Obiang Aug 8, 2009
com: Equatorial Guinea: Thirty Years With Obiang (Page 1 of 2). Equatorial Guinea: Thirty Years With Obiang ... August 2009 marks the 30th anniversary of Teodoro Obiang Nguema s coup d ;tat against Macias Nguema, but it is not occasion that many in Equatorial Guinea will be celebrating, writes Agust;n Velloso. (allAfrica.com)
Republic Of Congo Electing President Jul 13, 2009
Other long-standing rulers include Angola's Jose Eduardo dos Santos, Equatorial Guinea's Teodoro Obiang, who both took power in 1979, and Zimbabwe's Robert Mugabe, who has ruled since 1980 ... The probe follows a complaint by Transparency International France, an association that tracks corruption, against Sassou-Nguesso and Obiang of Equatorial Guinea. (CBS News -- World)
8,000 Artists Celebrate In Panafrican Festival Jul 10, 2009
Other countries, meanwhile, are teetering from recent coups, such as Madagascar, Equatorial Guinea and Mauritania. "Maybe culture, which is Africa's greatest wealth, can offer an answer," Benhamadi said. (CBS News -- World)
Niger Delta militants vow more attacks Jun 22, 2009
A recent attack on the presidential palace in neighboring Equatorial Guinea another major oil producer in the Gulf of Guinea region has been blamed on Niger Delta rebels. Oil prices have a tendency to spike upward whenever political instability threatens an area where oil is produced or transported, whether it's in Iran, Iraq, Nigeria, and even the pirate-ridden coastline of Somalia. (Christian Science Monitor -- World)
Kelefa Sanneh: The workplace wars. Jun 19, 2009
explores Equatorial Guinea. considers America s evolving relationship with Israel. (New Yorker)
Gabon ready for funeral of Bongo Jun 16, 2009
The presidents of Benin, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cameroon, the Central African Republic, Chad, Republic of Congo, Democratic Republic of Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Mali, Senegal, Sao Tome and Togo are among those expected to attend Tuesday's ceremony. Foreign dignitaries will pass in front of Mr Bongo's coffin at the presidential palace, where it has lain in state since last Thursday. (BBC News -- Africa)
Africa's top 10 'big men' Jun 16, 2009
No 2: EQUATORIAL GUINEA'S TEODORO OBIANG NGUEMA ... Despite its new-found oil wealth, 60% of the people of Equatorial Guinea live on less than a dollar a day. (BBC News -- Africa)
Why U.S. is boosting ties with Africa, by official May 26, 2009
The American official pledged that the Obama administration would in the next four years "be focusing its efforts on strengthening democracy, promoting sustainable development, resolving or mitigating conflicts, and dealing with transnational issues such as climate change and agriculture. "Today, approximately 17 per cent of America's oil imports come from Africa, with Nigeria supplying some eight per cent of America's needs, followed by major imports from Angola, Algeria and Equatorial Guinea,"... (Guardian News, Nigeria)
Obamas Visit Whats In It For Us And U.S.? May 25, 2009
With significant discoveries being made in the Gulf of Guinea oil basin, off the coast of Ghana, Equatorial Guinea, Congo and Cote dIvoire, according to the Energy Information Administration of the U.S. Department of Energy, the United States will be importing in the year 2020 over 770 million barrels of African oil a year. And Ghana with its stability, notable responsiveness to America, deepening multiparty democracy and promising investment climate is seen as the perfect epicentre for the... (Ghana Web, Ghana)
Africa: High-Level Engagement With Continent Has Started May 23, 2009
" America's ties with Africa are also based on a strong strategic and economic foundation, Carson said. "Today, approximately 17 percent of America's oil imports come from Africa, with Nigeria supplying some 8 percent of America's needs, followed by major imports from Angola, Algeria and Equatorial Guinea. " Nigeria, Angola and Algeria provide 98 percent of liquefied natural gas imports into the eastern United States, he noted. "In the months to come," Carson told his audience, "I look forward... (allAfrica.com)
South Africa: The Election - A Tainted Victory [opinion] Apr 17, 2009
The ANC's money obsession means that it is awash with money from un-stated sources, much of it appearing to come from fellow ruling parties in countries such as China, Equatorial Guinea, Libya and Angola. But there is a cost: the party machinery, even at a time of electoral mobilisation, is creaking. (allAfrica.com)
Benin joins EU aviation blacklist Apr 9, 2009
The list also imposes a total ban on airlines based in Equatorial Guinea, Kyrgyzstan, Liberia, Sierra Leone, Swaziland, the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and Gabon - save for Gabon Airlines and Afrijet, which have exemptions for a small number of aircraft. Bookmark with. (BBC News -- Africa)
Secrecy on party funding leads to skewed policy - Idasa Mar 27, 2009
When asked what could be done about the governing party receiving funding from despotic regimes in Libya and Equatorial Guinea, February said the problem was that party funding was entirely lacking in transparency. This was so even though Idasa had sued the five major parties in Parliament in 2005 in terms of the Promotion of Access to Information Act. (Business Report, South Africa)
Election lists are littered with fraudsters, thieves and a murderer Mar 23, 2009
So one cannot be sure how many millions of rands the ruling party is getting from the despots of Libya and Equatorial Guinea. No doubt some of the other political parties are getting funny money as well. (Business Report, South Africa)
'Jackal' author finds himself in the middle of a thriller Mar 5, 2009
In 1974 came "The Dogs of War," set in the fictional nation of Zangoro, which he said was modeled after the oil-rich Central African dictatorship of Equatorial Guinea, some 2,700 kilometers, or 1,700 miles, southeast of Guinea-Bissau ... Forsyth was long rumored to have financed a 1973 attempted coup in Equatorial Guinea. (International Herald Tribune -- Arts)
Equatorial Guinea: Demons in Paradise Feb 22, 2009
In an emotive piece about a country largely distant in the world's consciousness, Fernando Gamboa discusses the entrenched hold of the brutal Obiang dictatorship in Equatorial Guinea ... Few may be familiar with the name 'Equatorial Guinea', and very few would be able to locate it on a map of Africa ... In those times Equatorial Guinea was a Spanish province found in Africa's Gulf of Guinea; 'the Pearl of Africa', it was known as. (allAfrica.com)
16 held in coup effort in Equatorial Guinea Feb 20, 2009
The last time foreigners tried to topple the government of the tiny, oil-rich nation of Equatorial Guinea, it was a band of upper-crust Britons-turned-mercenaries involved in an elaborate plot, allegedly for a shadowy businessman, in exchange for cash. On Thursday, officials in Equatorial Guinea said they had arrested 16 men in an equally bizarre but even more mysterious attempt this week to overthrow the government of Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo, who has ruled the country, a former Spanish... (International Herald Tribune)
Country profile Feb 18, 2009
Since independence in 1968, Equatorial Guinea has been ruled by two men - from the same family - who have been described by a variety of human rights organisations as among the worst abusers of human rights in Africa ... In 2004 Equatorial Guinea had the world's fastest-growing economy ... AT-A-GLANCE Politics: President Obiang seized power in 1979; rights groups have condemned his rule as one Africa's most brutal; he faces a "government in exile" and a separatist movement Economy: Equatorial... (BBC News -- Africa)
Gunfire rattles capital of Equatorial Guinea Feb 18, 2009
Armed gunmen came ashore in Equatorial Guinea on Tuesday morning and headed for the presidential palace before being repelled, the government said ... But the main militant group in Nigeria's southern Niger Delta said Tuesday that its fighters were not involved in the early morning attack on Equatorial Guinea's capital, Malabo ... For Equatorial Guinea, a former Spanish colony that has been repeatedly rattled by coups and coup attempts, Tuesday morning seemed to begin with an all-too familiar... (International Herald Tribune)
