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African President spends oil money on high-end vehicles
… Son shows off nearly $20M in Lamborghinis and Ferraris on Instagram
Equatorial Guinea has been in the oil business since the resource was discovered there in 1995.
President of Equatorial Guinea, Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo
The country on the Western coast of Central Africa, is about one-tenth the size of Guyana, and has a population just over 1.3 million people. With such a valuable resource, a country that tiny and a population that small, one would expect the people to be lifted out of poverty.
After all, it is one of the largest oil producers in sub-Saharan African. But much of the population of the small African nation still lives in abject poverty. Its known oil reserves are projected to run out by 2035 and, while it rushes to find new reserves, its development partners cry out about widespread corruption and poor performance detailed in key indicators.
A recurring paid advertisement published by Kaieteur News details the modus operandi of oil companies when they approach poor, underdeveloped countries to do business. It states that they fatten the pockets of politicians and create chaos and instability in the country. It goes on to note that, while the chaos they engender causes the people of the country to fight against each other, the oil companies carry off the people’s wealth from right under their nose.
Vice President of Equatorial Guinea, Teodoro Mangue
Equatorial Guinea appears to be a textbook example of this modus operandi.
The country’s current President, Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo, who has been its leader for four decades, has been widely accused of corruption and abuse of power. While the people suffer and swim in the slums of poverty, the members of the Government live lavish lifestyles.
Mbasogo’s son and the country’s current Vice President, Teodoro Nguema Obiang Mangue , for instance, had almost $20M in high-end vehicles seized from him a few months ago, which he had paraded on his Instagram page.
Before that, Brazil authorities seized $16M in cash and luxury watches from a delegation accompanying him there. These are just a few of the few money laundering matters that the Vice President got himself involved in, with other countries.
One of the more egregious incidents involving President Mbasogo was brought to light when in January 2017, an American Senate Subcommittee investigation into the operations between the Government of Equatorial Guinea and ExxonMobil exposed a number of startling revelations.
A Lamborghini Veneno Roadster at an auction preview in Switzerland, after it was seized from President Mbasogo’s son, Teodoro Mangue (Denis Balibouse/Reuters)
Among the reasons for the hearing was that in 2004, the subcommittee identified a bank account in Washington where oil companies, principally ExxonMobil and Hess Corporation, deposited millions of dollars owed to Equatorial Guinea for operating there. These are the very two oil majors at the helm of operations on Guyana’s lucrative Stabroek Block.
The money they deposited into those accounts went to President Mbasogo’s family, the subcommittee had found.
This occurred during the time Rex Tillerson was the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of ExxonMobil.
At one of the hearings, Tillerson was grilled by Senator Jeff Merkley. The politician’s questions were based on how President Mbasogo became exceedingly rich due to ExxonMobil making payments into a private account as opposed to the country’s National Treasury.
Tillerson was asked to say why ExxonMobil participated in such an activity, to which he responded by arguing away the oil company’s involvement in what led to the enrichment of a few rich African leaders, with wealth that belonged to the people of Equatorial Guinea.
Mbasogo remains the country’s President, while one of the largest oil producers in sub-Saharan Africa has a human development index that is 135th in the world.
A 2016 report on the International Monetary Fund (IMF)’s Article IV consultation there placed the poverty incidence at 44 percent. It also stated that only 48 percent of the population had access to clean drinking water.
President of the Georgetown Chamber of Commerce and Industry (GCCI), Nicholas Deygoo-Boyer, in a recent letter to the editor, detailed how public infrastructure projects formed the direction in which money has been squandered by the African Government, while Health and Education fall by the wayside.
Deygoo-Boyer explained that Guyanese, for whom First Oil is fast approaching, must let go of their divisions and complete the work needed to truly take advantage of the resource about to be exploited.
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