Equatorial Guinea Country Economic Memorandum

Building the Foundations forRenewed, More Diversifiedand Inclusive Growth EQUATORIALGUINEA Building the Foundations forRenewed, More Diversifiedand Inclusive Growth © 2024 International Bank for Reconstruction and Development / The World Bank 1818 H Street NW, Washington DC 20433; Telephone: 202-473-1000; Internet: www.worldbank.orgSome rights reserved. This work is a product of the staff of The World Bank with external contributions. The findings,interpretations, and conclusions expressed in this work do not necessarily reflect the views of TheWorld Bank, its Board of Executive Directors, or the governments they represent. The World Bankdoes not guarantee the accuracy, completeness, or currency of the data included in this workand does not assume responsibility for any errors, omissions, or discrepancies in the information,or liability with respect to the use of or failure to use the information, methods, processes, orconclusions set forth. The boundaries, colors, denominations, and other information shown on anymap in this work do not imply any judgment on the part of The World Bank concerning the legalstatus of any territory or the endorsement or acceptance of such boundaries. Nothing herein shallconstitute or be construed or considered to be a limitation upon or waiver of the privileges andimmunities of The World Bank, all of which are specifically reserved. Rights and Permissions The material in this work is subject to copyright. Because The World Bank encourages disseminationof its knowledge, this work may be reproduced, in whole or in part, for noncommercial purposes aslong as full attribution to this work is given. Attribution:Please cite the work as follows: World Bank. 2024. Equatorial Guinea Country EconomicMemorandum: Building the Foundations for Renewed, More Diversified and Inclusive Growth,Washington, DC: The World Bank. All queries on rights and licenses should be addressed to World Bank Publications, The World BankGroup, 1818 H Street NW, Washington, DC 20433, USA; e-mail: pubrights@worldbank.org Acknowledgements The Equatorial Guinea Country Economic Memorandum (CEM) was prepared by a team led byDjeneba Doumbia (Economist) under the overall guidance of Cheick Fantamady Kante (CountryDirector), Abebe Adugna (Regional Director), Abdoulaye Seck (Country Director), Aissatou Diallo(Resident Representative), Sandeep Mahajan (Practice Manager), Robert Utz (Lead Economist),Clelia Rontoyanni (Program Leader), and Raju Singh (Lead Economist). Other members of theteam include Alessandra Heinemann (Senior Social Protection Specialist), Alex Ciborowska(Consultant), Alex Pio (Consultant), Anthony Patrick Mavrogiannis (Temporary), Camila MejiaGiraldo (Senior Digital Development Specialist), Chris Belmert Milindi Katindi (Extended TermConsultant), Christian De la Medina Soto (Private Sector Development Specialist), DukkenGaphi Ossouna (Consultant), Fabienne Mroczka (Senior Public Sector Specialist), FedericoIvan Fiuratti (Temporary), George Henry Stirrett (Environmental Specialist), Ivan GonzalezBerenguer Pena (Consultant), Joana Monteiro Da Mota (Former Extended Term Consultant),Jules Dumas Nguebou (Consultant), Karlygash Dairabayeva (Consultant), Luis Camilo OsorioFlorez (Health Specialist), Martin Elias De Simone (Education Specialist), Olga GuerreroHoras (Health Specialist), Priyanka Pandey (Consultant), Silvia Muzi (Senior Economist), SoniaBarbara Ondo Ndong (Economist), and Tania Begazo Gomez (Senior Economist). The extendedteam comprises Santiago Ntutumu Eko Angono (Consultant) and Natalia Leonor Campora(Consultant). Maria Claudia Pachon, Paula Maria Cerutti (Senior Economist) and Chimene Fouthe(Consultant) provided inputs at early stages of the report preparation. The team also benefitedfrom feedback from Jose Signoret, Utz Johann Pape, and Chadi Bou Habib at different stagesof the report preparation. The team thanks Pinar Baydar (Operation Analyst), Irene Sitienei (Program Assistant), IfeomaClementina Ikenye (Program Assistant), and Suhair Murad Al-Zubairi (Program Assistant) fortheir support. The team would like to thank Philip English (Consultant) for his editorial support. The team is thankful to the peer reviewers Arvind Nair, Jose Luis Diaz Sanchez, Steve Loris Gui-Diby and Erik von Uexkull for their contributions. The team would like to thank the Equatoguinean authorities for their collaboration in thepreparation of this report. Consultations on specific chapters were held during the preparationof the CEM. Initial CEM discussions with the authorities were held in Malabo (Equatorial Guinea)in February 2023, followed by several virtual discussions on specific areas of the report.Preliminary results were discussed with the authorities, including the Minister delegate of StateTreasury and Patrimony (World Bank Governor), the former Minister of Planning and EconomicDiversification (former World Bank Governor), other government counterparts, private sectoractors, and donors and pres