Equatorial Guinea - Foreign investment

Spain and France are the major aid donor countries working with the Equatorial Guinean government. Spain has recently conditioned aid, however, on improvements in the human rights record and progress in the democratization effort. Other donors include China, Nigeria, and several other Western and Middle Eastern countries.

Foreign investment in the petroleum and lumber industries increased sharply during the late 1990s. Timber production increased by 70% in 1997 and petroleum production reached 85,000 barrels per day in the same year. Offshore drilling operations began production in 2000. In 2001, Equatorial Guinea had the world's fastest growing economy as oil production, with Exxon Mobile as the main producer, reached 200,000 barrels per day. The inflow of foreign direct investment (FDI) jumped from an average of $22 million a year in 1997 and 1998 to an average of $120 million in 1999 and 2000. FDI inflow was $88 million in 2001.