The government of Equatorial Guinea has resigned after failing to meet its development targets, plunging the oil-rich nation into political uncertainty and forcing a re-evaluation of UK aid. For years, British taxpayers have poured millions into a country where the elite live in opulence while most citizens struggle on less than $2 a day. Now, with President Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo’s administration gone, the question is whether UK development money ever reached the people who needed it.
The collapse follows a damning report showing that despite vast oil revenues, Equatorial Guinea has made little progress on poverty, healthcare or education. Infant mortality remains among the highest in the world. One in three children is malnourished.
Meanwhile, the president’s son has spent hundreds of millions on private jets, luxury cars and a Malibu mansion. The resignation has triggered a review of the UK’s £12.9m aid programme to the country.
Foreign Office sources say the assistance was meant to boost governance and human rights. Yet critics argue it has propped up a corrupt regime. The Development Secretary has ordered an immediate assessment, with a decision on future funding expected within weeks.
The news comes as unions demand that aid be redirected to domestic programmes like the NHS and social care. But for many, this is a deeper story about what happens when oil wealth is captured by the few. The streets of Malabo are calm but tense.
Junior officials left government buildings with cardboard boxes. There is no clear successor. The resignation may be a theatrical move, a reshuffle or the start of a power struggle.
Either way, ordinary Ecuatoguineans are watching. They know that a change in faces does not always mean a change in fortunes. The UK’s aid review will decide whether Britain continues to write cheques for a country where the price of bread has doubled and the minimum wage is £50 a month.
For the people here, that is the real economy.
