• Cameras confirm presence of lowland gorillas in central mainland Equatorial Guinea for first time in over a decade
• Equatorial Guinea to start building new LNG train
• Equatorial Guinea hosts ethics workshop

• New Marburg virus outbreak confirmed in Equatorial Guinea
• Tainted African ruler may get UN prize in his name
• Equatorial Guinea: Poverty rife in Africa's 'Kuwait'

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Positive Trends
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Cameras confirm presence of lowland gorillas in central mainland Equatorial Guinea for first time in over a decade
25 February 2020 - Images of wild western lowland gorillas have been captured by camera traps deep in the jungles of central mainland Equatorial Guinea, marking the first time that the region's gorillas have been caught on film in more than a decade. (more)

Equatorial Guinea to start building new LNG train
19 October 2007 - Equatorial Guinea will soon start the construction of a second production train at its 3.4 million tonnes a year liquefied natural gas (LNG) plant on Bioko island, President Teodoro Obiang Nguema said. Equatorial Guinea, sub-Saharan Africa's third-largest oil producer, has seen its output leap since the discovery of large fields in the mid-1990s. (more)

Equatorial Guinea hosts ethics workshop
28 March 2006 - An unprecedented workshop on ethics and international law was held in Equatorial Guinea, an oil-rich country not known for the ethical treatment of its citizens or transparent business practices. (more)

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Flops
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New Marburg virus outbreak confirmed in Equatorial Guinea
14 February 2023 - Equatorial Guinea has just confirmed its first outbreak of Marburg virus, one of the families of hemorrhagic fevers related to Ebola. Like Ebola, Marburg can be quite deadly, with an 88 percent fatality rate. Unlike Ebola, we have no vaccines to protect people yet, or other specific treatments. ... Marburg has now been seen in Ghana, Angola, Uganda, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Kenya, and South Africa. The first outbreak was seen in 1967 in Germany and Serbia. It came from the importation of green monkeys from Angola. (more)

Tainted African ruler may get UN prize in his name
29 September 2011 - The United Nations' cultural arm may be forced to create a prize named after Equatorial Guinea's notoriously corrupt President, due to a resolution passed in June by several African presidents after being hosted in Equatorial Guinea's lavish resort. If that happens, President Teodoro Obiang Nguema, a man whose regime is accused of gross human rights violations, will be associated with an organization whose stated mission is the promotion of peace and human rights through cultural dialogue. Obiang seized power in a coup 32 years ago after toppling the former leader, who was executed. The United Nations Rapporteur on Torture toured the country's prisons in 2008 and determined that torture is systematic. There is also concern about the provenance of the $3 million that Obiang has said he will donate to endow the prize. The Obiang family has become fabulously wealthy during the President's reign and is accused of pilfering the nation's oil wealth. (more)

Equatorial Guinea: Poverty rife in Africa's 'Kuwait'
6 October 2008 - Equatorial Guinea is one of the world's top 30 oil producers, according to its Ministry of Mines, but corruption watchdog group Global Witness says most in the country still live in poverty. Global Witness Sasha Lezhnev, said: 'The Government earns billions in oil every year, yet 60 per cent of its population lives on less than US$1 a day.' Equatorial Guinea had one of the 60 highest per capita incomes worldwide in 2007, about US$20,000, yet, less than half the population has access to clean drinking water, and 20 per cent of children die before reaching five. The average cost of a medical consultation is about US$60, while the monthly Government minimum wage is US$186. 'Oil has only made us poorer,' said Antonio Buecheku, a farmer on Bioko island. (more)