Football fans will always
remember the violence
during Ghana’s Africa
Cup of Nations semi-final
win over Equatorial
Guinea. An African Sports
Monthly reporter looked
at the daily challenges for
thousands of African
migrants in the country.
Bata, Equatorial Guinea
— The world is oblivious
to the cruelties that
migrants in Equatorial
Guinea face every day,
with no help in sight for fortune-seeking foreign Africans.
Equatorial Guinea is seen as one of the richest countries in Africa, where in spite of
the weak competition from indigenes jobs and business activities flourish, thus
attracting thousands of people from Cameroon, Mali, Senegal, Ivory Coast, Ghana
and Guinea.
Non-African nationals such as Chinese, Lebanese and Indians are visible in diverse
sectors, but experience lesser woes than black foreigners.
Equatorial Guinea is a member of the Economic and Monetary Community of Central
Africa (CEMAC), with 9 other countries, including Cameroon, Chad, Congo, Gabon
and Central African Republic. The union promotes free trade and movement within
the space which is hardly respected by Equatorial Guinea.
A Cameroonian requires a visa to visit neighbouring Equatorial Guinea, which costs
300,000 francs ($600), and then must pay another 500,000 francs ($1,000) for a
resident permit with one-year validity, if they decide to live in the country for whatever
reason.
Despite the exorbitant price of an entry visa for Cameroonians, it is not easily
obtainable according to testimonials from many who are already settled in the country.
“There are many Cameroonians who can afford the visas and enter the country
legally but even after paying they might either not deliver it to you or delay it for
months. That is why many choose to cross the border into the country without legal
entry permits,” Idrissou Sadik, a 32-year-old electrician originally from Cameroon, told
African Sports Monthly in Bata, Equatorial Guinea’s largest city.
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