By Soumanou Salifou

In a letter dated June 16, 2013 addressed to the president of Equatorial Guinea, Obiang Nguema Mbasogo, the rector of the Ural State University of Economics (USUE) in Russia, Mikhail Fedorov, wrote: “Your Excellency, for your great achievements for Education and Sciences development, as well as your numerous actions in Health and Humanitarian fields, and, of course, your broad worldwide view and Sense of Peace, the Academic Council of the Ural State University of Economics will be honored to grant you the title of Honorary Professor.” This is the genesis a high-profile ceremony held on December 2nd in the magnificent Sipopo Conference Center in Malabo, Equatorial Guinea, with the diplomatic corps, Guinean government officials and academic elite in attendance, in addition to the representatives of the Russian university, including the rector in person.

President Obiang (now also known as Professor Obiang after being elevated to the title of Doctor Honoris Causa) did not frown upon the recognition, but the award ceremony initially scheduled for late June in the city of Yekaterinburg where USUE is located, had to be postponed due to conflict in scheduling. So, one of the main architects behind the recognition, Dr. Koovi Bertin, advisor to image for the Guinean head of state, accepted the distinction on behalf of Professor Obiang on October 29 in Yekaterinburg (see page 11).

In his speech that kicked off the ceremony this past December in Malabo, the rector of the Ural State University of Economics, Mikhail Fedorov, pointed out the infrastructural development the country has experienced, especially in Malabo, the capital, and Bata the second city, as just one illustration of Professor Obiang’s dedication to develop his country.

But there is more to Guinea’s stride on the path of development than infrastructural development.

According to an article posted online on July 11, 2013 by The African Economist, Equatorial Guinea has the second-highest literacy rate in Africa, with an adult literacy rate of 87%, a rate actually lower than the 93% rate reported in 2010 by UNESCO. Indeed, the government’s investments in educational and cultural development are commendable.

In his acceptance speech, Professor Obiang, the primary architect of Guinea’s development strategy, humbly said he owes the honor to the Guinean people: “I attribute the honor to the people of Equatorial Guinea, for the people are the architects of the development that is currently being experienced in Equatorial Guinea. I appeal to them to preserve the current policy of the country, without being influenced by outside interests that can disrupt peace and order in our country.”

In his address before the august assembly, Dr. Koovi Bertin, the inspiration behind the initiative, put it all in a religious context. “The honoris causa distinction is a biblical institution,” he said. After quoting Zac 3:1-5, Koovi, an extremely religious man, said that the best way to understand these verses is to replace Joshua with Obiang Nguema Mbasogo, and Satan with the western imperialism that blames others for everything.” Then he called for a massive effort to promote Guinea’s image throughout the world. “It’s God’s decision that I engage myself in the promotion of the image of Equatorial Guinea, the image of Professor Obiang Nguema Mbasogo, the image of Africa,” Koovi concluded.

Over the past decade, thanks to the discovery and exploitation of large oil and gas reserves, Equatorial Guinea has experienced an exceptional economic growth. Between 1995 and 2005, oil production increased sixty-fold, growing from 6,000 barrels a day to more than 360,000 a day, making the small Central African country the third oil producer in Sub-Saharan Africa, behind Nigeria and Angola. Thanks to the rocketing prices of crude oil, Equatorial Guinea’s GDP increased thirty-one-fold on the average between 1996 and 2006.

The subsequent massive influx of revenue enabled an impressive infrastructural development and a level of urbanization one would not have imaged a decade earlier: the construction of hospitals, roads and bridges, multipurpose stadiums, the Malabo and Bata airports, the Sipopo conference center, the deep-water Malabo port, the ultra-modern new section of the nation’s capital, Malabo 2, and various schools are just a few on the long list. Not to mention the now-sustained supply of electricity that has ended the nightmare of the dark streets, particularly in Malabo, a city once notorious for the grumbling of private power generators. Gone are the days when power failures took up to three months to be fixed.

While the massive influx of oil revenue helped improve the living conditions of the Guinean labor force – and even attracted immigrant workers from across the sub-region – poverty-reduction has remained an unmet challenge. Also, with oil production expected to reach its peak five years down the road, followed by inevitable decline, the authorities have their work cut out to turn this fragile economic growth into lasting prosperity for all.

Mindful of this imperative, the Guinean authorities have devised new policies geared toward making the second decade of the oil boom “a more social decade” and, at the same time, work toward the necessary diversification of the economy. A two-volume government study titled “Equatorial Guinea 2020, an Agenda for the diversification of the sources of growth” that The African magazine has obtained calls for the development of the energy and mining sector; fishing and aquaculture; agriculture; and the service industry, notably tourism.

Therefore, the honor bestowed on President Obiang has to do not only with the current performances of the economy, but also with his vision for the future. And this is not the first such honor the Equato-Guinean leader has received.

On November 24, 2012, the president received the title of Doctor Honoris Causa in Economics from the Universite Polytechnique Internationale du Benin (UPIB), a prestigious private institution in Benin, West Africa that has trained a large number of mid-level professionals over the past two decades. Typically, the ceremony drew a large crowd of officials and the country’s intellectual elite.

In the speech he delivered on the occasion, an upbeat Koovi Bertin, also the initiator of this event, justified the title on the basis of the president’s long list of achievements: “The grand diplomatic achievements during his tenure as chairman of the African Union and his accomplishments inside his own country through the erection of the basic infrastructure required for any country’s development.” Koovi also pointed out Equatorial Guinea’s smooth hosting of the play-offs of the 2012 African Cup of Nation of soccer, and the women’s variety of the same tournament that the Guinean side won by crushing their opponents with a score of 4 to nothing. Besides conferring the title upon the Guinean president, UPIB officials renamed the institution after the Guinean head of state, so the school is now known as the Universite Polytechnique Internationale Obiang Nguema Mbasogo.

The idea of conferring this title upon President Obiang, Koovi explained, “is a response to forces outside the African continent that always paint our political leaders in black as soon as they show signs of being pan-africanist and nationalist.” Koovi went on to say that “This initiative by a private institution is proof that the African private sector supports actors of the African public sector, and, better yet, evaluates them and rewards them.”