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Equatorial Guinea is flooded with oil, although few riches have been transported to the poor.
However, one of the most glaring inequalities is Internet access.
Other parts of the world are advancing in their plans for fast and free universal online access – or at least low cost. Equatorial Guinea, a small reclusive state on the west-central coast of Africa, seems stuck in a war of time.
With very few exceptions, slow speed and stratospheric bills are of daily interest to many people who want to search for information on the web, use social media, email, messaging, and the myriad of common Internet activities elsewhere.
"Internet in Equatorial Guinea is still a big deal, reserved for those who can afford it," said Mboro Mba, 35, sitting on the ground behind a hotel while he was trying to connect to a Wi-Fi service. -fi free with his computer. smartphone.
Equatorial Guinea has the world's most expensive Internet after Zimbabwe, according to a list published this year by Ecobank, a pan-African bank.
A gigabyte of mobile data, which is roughly equivalent to watching one hour of television on Netflix, costs $ 35.
In comparison, the average monthly salary of a restaurant worker or waiter in Equatorial Guinea is between 100,000 and 150,000 CFA francs (170 to 260 euros, 150 to 230 euros).
"For 2,000 CFA francs (3.40 euros), I can not even download a video of 80 seconds," said a local journalist to colleagues from Central Africa who came to Malabo to cover a regional meeting and told are found trapped in Internet problems.
"You really have to be patient to work with the Internet in this country," said a visitor to the Republic of Congo, trying unsuccessfully to send files to his publisher.
The barriers to Internet access here are so high that the International Telecommunication Union (ITU), a UN agency, estimates that only a quarter – 26% – of Equatorial Equatorial Guinea go online .
The authorities have set up a "free public Internet network" along the Paseo Maritimo, a six-kilometer long seafront in Malabo, which is also used for sports activities and quiet walks.
"I come here almost every night to talk about WhatsApp to my mother who is in Spain," said Filomena, 32, a clothing sales clerk.
"I do not have the money to have an Internet connection, so I often come here with my friends to use the wi-fi," says Jorge Obiang, a schoolboy, leaning against a tree with several young companions, all glued to their screens.
Formerly a Spanish colony, Equatorial Guinea is theoretically one of the richest states in Africa thanks to oil revenues.
Next month, its president, Teodoro Obiang Nguema, will lead with an iron fist for 40 years – the longest term of office for all African leaders still alive.
He has long been criticized for corruption within the regime and lack of openness to the rest of the world.
The slowness of the service is particularly paradoxical because "the country is located in the Gulf of Guinea and therefore has access to a number of cross-country cables," said Julie Owono, of the NGO Internet Without Borders, Internet Without Borders .
Equatorial Guinea, which includes an island on which Malabo is located and a forest territory on the African continent that hosts the commercial capital Bata, is connected to three submarine fiber optic cables providing Internet service.
In neighboring Gabon, Internet access costs five times less than the scale established by Ecobank.
No competition
The exorbitant price of the internet "is explained by the very strong presence of the state company (Telecom) in the market and by the lack of competition," said Owono.
"Everything here is centralized, political decisions depend on a person or a family and it is difficult to establish a competitive market."
The state telecommunications agency GITGE, which sets tariffs, refused to answer questions from AFP.
Another deterrent to competition is the Internet power outages ordered by those in power, she said.
In November 2017, on the eve of the parliamentary elections, access to WhatsApp was blocked and social media became unavailable for five months.
"We live in the era of information – the government is applying a huge drag," said Owono.
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