Malabo and Yaoundé, whose relations were strained this year with the launch by Equatorial Guinea of the construction of a wall on its border with Cameroon, signed a cooperation agreement on defense and cross-border security on Tuesday. This agreement was signed by the defense ministers of these two Central African countries in Sipopo, Equatorial Guinea. It provides for "the prohibition of the use of force between the two countries and non-interference in the internal affairs of the other" , according to a statement released after its signature.
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Its exact provisions have not been disclosed by authorities. This agreement marks above all a warming of relations between the two countries. "The clouds which had gradually formed in recent months at the level of our two borders are now dissipated" reacted the Minister Delegate to the Cameroonian Presidency in charge of Defense, Joseph Beti Assomo. "This is a positive step (...) a happy day for our two peoples," added Equatorial Guinea Minister Leandro Nkogo Bakale. Since July 2019, tensions had erupted between these two countries, when Yaoundé accused Equatorial Guinea of having started to build a wall on its border, encroaching on its territory, which Malabo had denied.
A few months ago, the disagreement was rekindled with the construction of watchtowers in the same place. At the beginning of July, a meeting between the two ministers had already taken place in Yaoundé, where the end of the construction of this wall had been announced, until the two countries agree on the route of the border. One of the reasons given to justify the construction of this wall is illegal immigration. Many Cameroonians are trying their luck on the other side of the border, in Equatorial Guinea, attracted by the opportunities created by the oil windfall in this small country.
The border area of Equatorial Guinea, Cameroon and Gabon, called the three border zone, is a hub for trade, but also for trafficking. Malabo is particularly monitoring this border where around thirty armed men were arrested at the end of 2017, accused of having attempted a coup against President Teodoro Obiang Nguema.