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COUNTRY FOCUS Aiming to be Africa’s Dubai in the making There is talk that oil-rich Equatorial Guinea is aiming to be the ‘Dubai of West Africa’. But whether this is little more than a pipe dream remains to be seen. An aerial view of the capital, Malabo. There are signs of “renovation and gentrif cation ut there’s still a long way to go, say foreign observers N AN EFFORT TO WOO FOREIGN including laptops and notebooks, that the detention was “a graphic investment, Equatorial Guinea – the confiscated and not returned. The pair, illustration of how the old guard that I little-known and secretive West Africa Editor Javier Blas and Senior Writer controls the security services and the African nation of less than a million Peter Chapman, were given permission to military continues to keep tight control inhabitants – invited a host of potential visit the oil-rich country, known for granting over foreign media, using arbitrary international investors, foreign media very few media visas, in order to preview detention and confiscation of equipment and political leaders to a conference in the flagship economic summit. Instead, … while officials from other branches of February this year. they were forced to cut short their visit government worked very hard to broker Yet, just a few weeks earlier, two under less than desirable circumstances. our release and secure free passage for journalists from the Financial Times As Blas wrote on his blog afterwards, us to leave the country.” newspaper of London – one of the bastions their arrest highlighted the “tension The two-day ‘Emerging Equatorial of the world’s business media – were between conservative and progressive Guinea’ symposium played host to 800 arrested and had most of their equipment, factions in the government”. He added delegates, including 200 international Third quarter 2014 strategicmarketingafrica 45 45-47 Country Focus v2.indd 31 2014/06/26 3:46 PM