“Our people
forget that a rich
person is not he
who earns more
but he who saves
“Our people forget that a rich person is not he who
earns more but he who saves more. When they get their
fat salaries they don’t think twice before going on a
spending spree and that leaves them empty until the
next pay run,” he says.
more”
Isko Maye
Business Consultant;
“Economic
reforms for citizens
Bata, Equatorial Guinea
The government of Teodoro Obiang Nguema, who
has ruled the country since 1979, has recently
pegged minimum wage at 120,000 francs ($240)
and banned foreigners from operating taxis in the country, a lucrative transport business the
authorities want locals to get involved in.
Government contracts have also been made available to local entrepreneurs, which never
existed, but reports say they are still mostly snaffled by members of the ruling party PDGE.
Social housing projects of two and three bedroom flats are sprawling across Bata and Malabo
but an apartment costs a minimum of 20 million francs ($40,000), although distributed on a
mortgage plan that stretches to 15 and 20 years, many citizens cannot afford it and prefer to
abide in their poor homes and quarters where tap water is not stable and power outage is to be
expected even during week days.
“We have a government that controls money, huge money but I feel either they lack ideas to
better the lives in poor areas or are just being intentionally ignorant,” Jose Mbela, a 42-year-old
lawyer in Bata, who also runs a tourism firm, says.
“There are places I can take you to in Bata, Mongomo and even in Malabo you wouldn’t believe
those living in those places are citizens of this oil rich nation. I think it’s high time the
government stopped investing in projects of showcase. They need to pay attention to the
situation of the huge amount of people in the lower class and not the few in the upper class. The
country is small, the population is small and so we should have lesser troubles changing things
for the better,” he says.
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