Equatorial Guinea’s President Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo has made a significant move by appointing a former bank chief as the new prime minister. This decision comes nearly three weeks after the resignation of the previous government, which was deemed ” ineffective.”
In a surprising turn of events, the government led by Manuela Roka Botey—the first woman to hold the role of prime minister—resigned at the president’s request just 18 months after her appointment.
In accepting the resignation last month, President Obiang remarked that it was “clear that there has been a collective inability to provide effective solutions to critical problems such as the economy, social cohesion, and combating corruption.”
In a decree signed on Friday and published by the presidency, Obiang announced Manuel Osa Nsue Nsua as the new prime minister and assigned him the task of “administrative coordination of Equatorial Guinea.”
Manuel Osa Nsue Nsua has been the director of the National Bank of Equatorial Guinea since 2012.
President Obiang, aged 82, has governed the small African nation—formerly a Spanish colony with rich oil reserves—for 44 years.
The United Nations and various non-governmental organisations frequently criticise the repression of dissent in Equatorial Guinea.