Equatorial Guinea is divided into the Island Bioko with the capital Malabo and the mainland, which was originally inhabited by Pygmies. In the 18th century, the Portuguese ceded land to the Spanish that included Equatorial Guinea. From 1827 to 1844, Britain administered Fernando Po, but it was then reclaimed by Spain. Río Muni, the mainland, was not occupied by the Spanish until 1926. Spanish Guinea, as it was then called, gained independence from Spain on Oct. 12, 1968. It is Africa's only Spanish-speaking country.
 
The actual president of the country, Teodoro Obiang Nguema has been elected president in 1982 and re-elected to a fourth seven-year term in 2002. Obiang and his advisers maintain tight control of the military and the government. However with the help of international assistance, the country is evolving towards a modern state with reliable education and health systems. A lot of efforts have been made to improve the entire infrastructure of the country including roads, airports, ports and the modernization of education systems. However, there is still a lot to do to improve the life of the poor, but no doubt and although with international critics, you can not change the habits in such a short time!
 
Since 1996, FMO is shareholder (19%) and active partner of the CCEI-Bank Equatorial Guinea and has experienced a substantial economical growth during the past 5 years. The bank was created in 1995 by the Group Afriland First Bank from Cameroon as a small commercial bank in an up coming market. Now-a-days the bank is the largest bank in the country with Head Offices in Malabo and branches on the continent with a total balance sheet of EUR 322 million. The net profit realized in 2006 amounted to EUR 5 million and the bank has been valued at the end of April 2007 with NAV more than EUR 20 million.
 
CCEI-Bank Equatorial Guinea has contributed substantially towards the development of the financial sector of the country and has also played a role in attracting foreign direct investments. Taking the oil reserves of the country into consideration, the future is bright for this bank. At the moment the bank has started building a new Head Office in Malabo and is also trying to implement the Best Standard Practices and the international required Corporate Governance and is using anti money laundering systems. See also www.cceibankge.com and look also to "Evènements ; oeuvre sociales".
 
Although, Equatorial Guinea is still far from being a successful developed country, the oil sector has helped to upgrade substantially the necessary progress in this part of the Africa continent. It is expected that further emphasize will be put on improving the average standard of living of the inhabitants in Equatorial Guinea by promoting other economical sectors, improving educational systems and foreign investments. Diversification of the economical sectors and not only remaining focusing on oil is the target of the present government of Equatorial Guinea. With additional education and successful cooperation with foreign companies citizens of Equatorial Guinea are moving towards a bright future. Again, another African success story!
Ben Zwinkels is a Senior Investment Officer of the Equity Department at the Netherlands Development Finance Company (FMO, www.fmo.nl)
 

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