Equatorial Guinea Relocates Capital to Bata from Malabo

{{Authorities in Equatorial Guinea are tentatively relocating the country’s political capital from Malabo, situated on the island of Bioko, to Bata on the continental shelf.}}

The relocation to Bata, the economic capital, will be effective from the end of February and will last for six months, during which the country will host three continental conferences.

African leaders are expected to attend the three meetings, which include a mini-summit of heads of state and government, a NEPAD meeting and the African Peer Review Mechanism.

Equatorial Guinea’s minister for Information and Government spokesman Teobaldo Nchaso Matomba, said in statement on Wednesday that as of end of February, all official transactions would take place in Bata.

The relocation will help to improve infrastructure development in the economic capital and the move was also mainly in fulfilment of government’s decentralisation policy.

This is the second time that the authorities of Equatorial Guinea are relocating the capital to Bata.

In February 2009, a tentative relocation was undertaken following an armed attack on the presidential palace by alleged fighters of Nigeria’s Movement for the Emancipation of Niger Delta (MEND).

Equatorial Guinea is one of Africa’s top oil producing countries, but with a chequered political history, characterised by rampant corruption and autocratic leadership dating back to over 30 years.

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