The government
of Equatorial Guinea has heavily invested its oil revenues in the country by
focusing on improving education, developing human capital and diversifying its economy,
Equatorial Guinea's Ambassador to the United States, Ruben Maye Nsue Mangue,
said in a recent interview with Focus Washington.
Ambassador Nsue
Mangue called improved education one of his country’s most important
accomplishments since independence. “Since 1979, the government committed to develop
professional education and human development. When we gained our independence,
we did not have any universities, but now we have two universities, and the
president is building another university in the new town of Oyala.”
Education has
been a top priority for the government. Equatorial Guinean has an adult
literacy rate of nearly 100%--the highest in Africa.. Since 1979, citizens of
Equatorial Guinea have received more than 500,000 scholarships to study in
universities and professional and technical-training programs outside the
country. This figure includes multiple scholarship recipients and people who have
remained outside the country.
The West African
nation has also experienced significant economic growth, and it has learned how
to best use its oil revenues from the positive and negative experiences of other
countries.
“When we
discovered oil in 1992, we learned from the mistakes from other countries…,” Ambassador
Nsue Mangue said. “In 1997, the country organized the first economic
conference, which was really a national consultation with all governments,
political parties, civil society and community leaders to know how effectively
and efficiently we could use the oil revenues. The first national economic
conference established the goal of building human capacity, education and basic
infrastructure for the development of our country.”
The country subsequently moved to a more comprehensive development plan that
could be financed through oil revenues once extraction began producing
sufficient revenue. The infrastructure and economic diversification the country
has experienced in recent years are established in the Horizon 2020 development
plan, which was established in 2007 to diversify its economy.
Rapid
development creates its own need for adjustment and reform, and Equatorial
Guinean President Obiang Nguema Mbasogo has made legal reform a priority,
including a new constitution that modernized the institutions of government.
“With this new
constitution, we have the Senate, the Council of Republic, the Supreme Council
of judiciary power, the Ombudsman, the socio-economic council of the Republic
and the Court of Accounts” he said.
Equatorial
Guinea’s success has encouraged many African leaders to visit the country and
consult with the government on development strategies, but Equatorial Guinea
offers advice with a light hand.
“We cannot
impose other countries to follow our model,” Ambassador Nsue Mangue said. “Equatorial
Guinea’s advice should be that every country sees its reality and also to seek
good partners.”
Equatorial
Guinea has achieved many of its goals because of the country’s unity and the
good relationships it enjoys with its partners. “We have worked altogether
regardless of our political orientation, and we have found good international
partners like the United States, American government and American private
companies.”
Equatorial
Guinea and the United States enjoy good bilateral relations, he says, and the
two governments work together well. “I have been well received by the State
Department and we [the Embassy] are working together on issues of mutual
concern to both our countries and people,” he said.