Forgotten world (49): Equatorial Guinea
The tiny state of Equatorial Guinea has five inhabited islands and a mainland portion of jungle. It is one of the smallest countries in Africa with only 520,000 citizens.
In 1979, nine years after independence from Spain, President Teodoro Obiang Nguema seized power, and has been absolute ruler ever since. In the past decade, the country has become Africa’s third largest oil producer and, on paper, oil has made its citizens the second wealthiest on the planet.
In practice, much of the £370m revenue is grabbed by the president, while most people live on less than a dollar a day. A coup plot was staged in 2004, led by Simon Mann, a friend of Sir Mark Thatcher, the son of the former British prime minister.
President Obiang is suffering from terminal prostate cancer. He has made it known he favours his son as his successor, but Teodoro Nguema Obiang is as corrupt as his father as made clear in this article.