New Conference Room of Sipopo.

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The President of the Republic, H.E. Obiang Nguema Mbasogo, inaugurated the city of Sipopo on June 5: a large complex consisting of a total of 21 infrastructures that were undertaken by ten different companies in less than two years.

Therefore, with this inauguration everything is ready for the organization of the great summit that will bring together the presidents of the countries of the African Union and leading representatives from around the world. After the event, the new Hotel Sofitel Sipopo Le Golf, the impressive conference room and the 52 houses will still be operative, which during the Summit will serve as the official residences of the African presidents attending the event. They also inaugurated the new Medical Center La Paz, the new artificial beach and the police will ensure order in the new city.

The President of the Republic, H. E. Obiang Nguema Mbasogo, congratulated the representatives of the construction companies for their ability to complete the works on time, and recalled that the main objective of building this city is to become, after the Summit, a major tourist destination.

The entire surface area of Sipopo, located in the Gulf of Guinea, with an exceptional view on clear days of Mount Cameroon, is exactly 3,003,320.39 m². Starting last week, it also has an Honorary Mayor, Jesus Ngomo Nvono, who has assumed the responsibility for the maintenance of the area and infrastructure protection. Security is ensured with the new police station, while at the same time, we have established adequate measures for fire safety and against any type of damage or disaster.

As the Head of State recalled in his speech at the inauguration, the main objective of building Sipopo is for the island of Bioko to offer a spectacular reception center for tourists, one of the most beautiful settings of the country, in the jungle and beaches. Within this tourism space we can highlight the 52 residential villas located near the beaches, which offer independent living for tourist rental for individuals or institutions, as well as the new Sofitel Malabo Sipopo Le Golf, the first resort spa in Equatorial Guinea, with a private beach a mile long and a golf course. This tourist area is unique in the country, and with its opening it is expected that the tourist traffic will grow in a country which, as indicated by international organizations like the IMF, needs to diversify its sources of economic production, in the coming years, and gradually end its dependence on oil.

To give Sipopo the necessary communications and services, both to conveniently accommodate the big event of the AU Summit, and, above all, for its perfect development as a resort thereafter, the Government of Equatorial Guinea has invested over 580,000 million Euros in building the entire complex: a huge body of works including the Sipopo Conference Room and the building adjoining it, with an approximate cost of approximately 200 million Euros, the highway Ela Nguema-Sipopo (over 86 million Euros), the development of residential villas (over 100 million Euros), the electrification, the fiber optic network, heliport, etc,. From the end of the Summit, the conference room will also serve to host numerous events, meetings and international meetings taking place in Equatorial Guinea in upcoming years, which until now were held in smaller spaces that at times were too small, such as the Banapa Conference Room.

This weekend they have also opened the extension of the Malabo International Airport, which can now accommodate the intense international traffic that arrives daily to the city, and which the old terminal could no longer handle. Therefore, the expanded airport, like the rest of the works, will be ready for the African Union Summit.

Text: Benjamín Mangue Micha and Clemente Ela Ondo Onguene.

Photos: Miguel Mba (Presidential Press and D.G. Base Internet).

Source of the Map: Ministry of Public Works and Infrastructures.

Equatorial Guinea’s Press and Information Office (D.G. Base Internet).