Several other Heads of State were present at the event, including the presidents of Chad, the Central African Republic, Santo Tomé y Principe, Mali, Congo Brazzaville, Benin, and Gabon. The US and Spain also had representation in the parade through official members of their respective governments.
Between Saturday, October 5th and Sunday, October 13th, Equatorial Guinea saw a series of multicultural events that highlighted the country's values and virtues like never before. From sports, culture, defense, infrastructure, to traditions, economy, people's pride – every aspect of the Guinean spirit was represented in more than 100 different events that commemorated this crucial moment in the nation's history.
Development was one of the main themes of this special anniversary, as everyone in the country witnessed during last week's official openings of: the new tribune on the Malabo boardwalk; new roads in the Paraiso area; two new ministry headquarters (Tax and Information and Press and Radio); as well as the new HQ for the PDGE (Democratic Party of Equatorial Guinea).
The event culminated with an official mass in memory of the Martyr of National Independence and the President's Cup soccer final in the Malabo Stadium. This closed a week full of pride and joy for the people of Equatorial Guinea.
"Things are not how they used to be here. This is a new Equatorial Guinea, always succeeding through progress and taking on ambitious infrastructure and diversification projects,” President Mbasogo has reiterated over the past few months. Equatorial Guinea is the new land of opportunity in Africa, a country which excels as an example of self-managed growth, which has wisely exploited its massive oil reserves and which continues developing one of its greatest resources: its human capital. This year it has been recognized as having the second highest literacy rates in Africa at 83 percent.
Following the discovery of massive oil reserves in the 1990s, Equatorial Guinea has become the third-largest producer of oil in Sub-Saharan Africa, with annual revenues from this sector topping $8 billion. Total investment in the sector now stands at over $40 billion.
With the goal of rising to regional prominence and becoming an emerging economy by 2020, Equatorial Guinea has experienced unprecedented development and growth during the last 20 years and has had one of the fastest growing economies in Africa. Now the Government aims to speed up the county's development and democratization; encompassing a range of efforts across the board from infrastructure investment and government reform to gender equality and poverty reduction.
1 COMMENT
Wonderful island !!