This city is asking for attention ;)

[Tbite]

These new pics depict the city in better light

[StormShadow]

[moroccanboy]

what happend there! is there a war ?

[Kenguy]

I had pictured a prosperous country before I saw this pics.
Its really depressing especially if you compare Gabon down south to what these pics represent.

Something must be done...FAST!!!!!

[Matthias Offodile]

It is just unbelievable how disgustingly run down Malabo is...I will try to look for new construction pics

Here is at least a pic of the new stadium

[Skyprince]

Mmm... maybe the location of Malabo explains why it looks a bit rundown.
Malabo is located in an island.

By contrast, Eq Guinean second largest city Bata is very modern and impressive. There are many nice shops and attractive cafes , footpaths are all well-maintained, and the facilities look strikingly new.
Bata is located on the mainland.

Geographical reasons could explain this ?

[Matthias Offodile]

Finding recent photos is on Malabo´s construction is next to impossible....

New road on Bioko Island



A restaurant



cathedral of Malabo at night



picture taken in 2006



this is on isla Annóbon





this is nothing new, but the area looks nice and well-preserved





inside the beautiful catedral

[Matthias Offodile]

Mmm... maybe the location of Malabo explains why it looks a bit rundown.
Malabo is located in an island.

By contrast, Eq Guinean second largest city Bata is very modern and impressive. There are many nice shops and attractive cafes , footpaths are all well-maintained, and the facilities look strikingly new.
Bata is located on the mainland.

Geographical reasons could explain this ?

No, I don´t think that this could be explained with geography alone, we have many island nations in the world that are performing very well like Mauritius, Seychelles, Singapore, smaller Pacific Islands, Cape Verde etc.

It is due to neglect, an absence of a competent and intelligent governing mayor, a lot of institutionalized corruption and the lack of responsability/discipline of the citizens of the island who seem to give a damn for keeping things neat and clean.

Another factor may be climatical conditions, in the tropics houses rot away very rapidly, but that´s not an excuse to me neither ´cos Sigapore and your beautiful country Malaysia are both lying on the equator and absolutely everything is very well-maintained and spotlessly clean. It makes fun to go there.

With regard to Bata, yes, you are right it looks nicer than Malabo but is far from being a modern city as you say. I haven´t spotted any attractive cafés, no malls, no entertainement facilities like a cineplex, bowling alley, ice-skating rink, futuristic public library etc.. Equatorial Guinea is not a poor African country. This year it will even increase its oil production to more than 500 000 barrels of oil a day for a population of around 500 000 people. Apart from all social infrastructures like decent schools, hospitals, a university etc, all the above-mentioned facilities like office towers, malls, hypermarkets and the like should be standard for a country like Equatorial Guinea. Where are all those facilities, at least I cannot find them on the net. Equatorial Guinea´s benchmark should be countries like Oman, Brunei, Malaysia or Qatar! The country is tiny and extremely wealthy. and there was no war, so there are absolutely no excuses!

That´s my opinion

[Matthias Offodile]

Magnificient Nature on the Bioko Island where the capital Malabo is located


Mount Malabo (called "Pico Basilé" 3008 m)

[Skyprince]

No, I don´t think that this could be explained with geography alone, we have many island nations in the world that are performing very well like Mauritius, Seychelles, Singapore, smaller Pacific Islands, Cape Verde etc.

It is due to neglect, an absence of a competent and intelligent governing mayor, a lot of institutionalized corruption and the lack of responsability/discipline of the citizens of the island who seem to give a damn for keeping things neat and clean.

Another factor may be climatical conditions, in the tropics houses rot away very rapidly, but that´s not an excuse to me neither ´cos Sigapore and your beautiful country Malaysia are both lying on the equator and absolutely everything is very well-maintained and spotlessly clean. It makes fun to go there.

With regard to Bata, yes, you are right it looks nicer than Malabo but is far from being a modern city as you say. I haven´t spotted any attractive cafés, no malls, no entertainement facilities like a cineplex, bowling alley, ice-skating rink, futuristic public library etc.. Equatorial Guinea is not a poor African country. This year it will even increase its oil production to more than 500 000 barrels of oil a day for a population of around 500 000 people. Apart from all social infrastructures like decent schools, hospitals, a university etc, all the above-mentioned facilities like office towers, malls, hypermarkets and the like should be standard for a country like Equatorial Guinea. Where are all those facilities, at least I cannot find them on the net. Equatorial Guinea´s benchmark should be countries like Oman, Brunei, Malaysia or Qatar! The country is tiny and extremely wealthy. and there was no war, so there are absolutely no excuses!

That´s my opinion

1) I dont understand about one thing , Equatorial Guinean GDP per head ( in terms of PPP ) hovers around $ 16 000 to $ 17 000 ( even some estimates as high as $ 54 000 ) that means its economic/infrastructure standards must be similar to Oman or Hungary.

2) I traveled to Europe several times with my dad and sister, I was very shocked during my first visit to Europe in one European country ( which claimed itself to be a World Power ). It has 10 times income per-head than Malasya ( in terms of US$ ) and 3 times in terms of PPP per head at that time ( in 2005 ), but i found that their highways, housing, city orderliness, transportation system, malls etc are less developed compared to us.
Come on, this is a country wih per-capita income of above $ 30 000 but how come everything seems to be old, chaotic and disorderly ?

So Matt/everyone do you have explanations for these two issues that have absolutely occupied my mind ?


Anyway , the latter pictures have clearly shown the bright sides of Malabo. It is very unique indeed that the capital is situated in Bioko Island which is far from the mainland

[muhana]

I think the landscape is absolutely beautiful.

[Matthias Offodile]

Well, here are some more pics of Malabo..showing construction

Its newly built airport terminal, nothing spectaluar, but lightyears away from the former airport

[StormShadow]

Good pictures Matt. Well, it looks like construction is going on. The row-homes don't look bad at all, if that's what it is. Malabo has a small population but so does the whole nation, I'm sure these constructions are very noticeable in the city, do to it's land size and population. With desire I feel they can turn that city around with good speed.

[Kelsen]

The first set is really sad pics.

[Skyprince]

I think that we need to visit Eq. Guinea to judge its progress. We cannot say anything by just looking at the pictures, maybe they are old or intentinally taken at the darkest corners of the city to potray it bad...

Anyone has been to Malabo ? Please tell us what did you see there

Anyway, the latest pics look great ! I like the airport structure-- look very simple and efficient. The 3rd pic -- is that housing project ?

[popa1980]

[QUOTE=Skyprince;12384550]1) I dont understand about one thing , Equatorial Guinean GDP per head ( in terms of PPP ) hovers around $ 16 000 to $ 17 000 ( even some estimates as high as $ 54 000 ) that means its economic/infrastructure standards must be similar to Oman or Hungary.

OK. A quick laymans guide to GDP. GDP does not directly relate to infrastructure/development though its a rough approximation.

There is "pure" GDP (= Nominal GDP) and there is PPP GDP (which is adjusted to the purchasing power of a country- eg. Ghana's real GDP per head is about $400 but adjusted for the lower cost of things in Ghana you get the PPP GDP which is about $1800 I think). Many countries have very high GDPs but a lot of which is "taken" out of the country e.g. many Carribean nation's tourist industry is owned by foreign companies who repatriate their profits- so in fact the actual GDP that remains in the country is considerably less than you would think. Many small tax-exile islands have "artificially" high GDPs because off-shore companies may simply be registered there without actually contributing much to the economy.

Brazil has the same GDP per head as Argentina but because the former is a much more inequal society, I consider Argentina to be the richer country, its infrastructure seems better too. Angola has a higher GDP per head than many other African countries but is ranked very low in standard of living. Conversely, communist Cuba has a living standard for higher than its GDP would suggest.

I find the HDI method used by the UN a FAR better measure of a countries wealth.

Which European country are you referring to??? I found the major trunk roads in Malaysia to be good but I cant think of any rich European countries whose infrastructure or housing is in anyway beneath that of Malaysia. You wouldnt expect to see many spectacular malls in Europe btw, Europeans prefer high street shopping.

[DanteXavier]

[QUOTE=popa1980;12955711]

Originally Posted by Skyprince

1) I dont understand about one thing , Equatorial Guinean GDP per head ( in terms of PPP ) hovers around $ 16 000 to $ 17 000 ( even some estimates as high as $ 54 000 ) that means its economic/infrastructure standards must be similar to Oman or Hungary.

OK. A quick laymans guide to GDP. GDP does not directly relate to infrastructure/development though its a rough approximation.

There is "pure" GDP (= Nominal GDP) and there is PPP GDP (which is adjusted to the purchasing power of a country- eg. Ghana's real GDP per head is about $400 but adjusted for the lower cost of things in Ghana you get the PPP GDP which is about $1800 I think). Many countries have very high GDPs but a lot of which is "taken" out of the country e.g. many Carribean nation's tourist industry is owned by foreign companies who repatriate their profits- so in fact the actual GDP that remains in the country is considerably less than you would think. Many small tax-exile islands have "artificially" high GDPs because off-shore companies may simply be registered there without actually contributing much to the economy.

Brazil has the same GDP per head as Argentina but because the former is a much more inequal society, I consider Argentina to be the richer country, its infrastructure seems better too. Angola has a higher GDP per head than many other African countries but is ranked very low in standard of living. Conversely, communist Cuba has a living standard for higher than its GDP would suggest.

I find the HDI method used by the UN a FAR better measure of a countries wealth.

Dead on with this analysis. Using the human development index is, overall, a much better method for judging different nations and their living standards. GDP just isnt all that accurate overall.

Here it is for those folks who haven't seen it so much.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of...elopment_Index

[StormShadow]

Mods, can we change the title of this thread to "Malabo, Equatorial Guinea - Gallery" ? This way it would be easier to locate if some one decided to run a search for it, thanks.

[9yja]

the stadium and the lake is absolute beautiful,lol.

[mista_a.b]

There seems to be an improvement here, I guess the first set of pics were taken 2 or 3 years ago. Still, the massive wealth generated by oil revenues will take a few more years to translate itself into infrastructure, architecture, etc... Malabo has the potential to be one of those idyllic tropical settings.