The summit, sponsored by the Equato-Guinean Government and the executive secretariat of the CPLP, and organized by the Business Confederation of the CPLP, aims to "boost, develop and strengthen economic and business cooperation" between the member states of the organization of Portuguese-speaking countries and associated observers.
According to a statement from the Equato-Guinean embassy, the CPLP meeting is expected to bring "to Equatorial Guinea large companies from all nine countries, spread over four continents".
Companies from the oil and gas, industry, fishing, agriculture, food processing, environment, tourism, transport, health and training sectors from the nine CPLP countries will have access to a menu of "business opportunities in the country", to be presented by the host government, as well as to meet local institutions supporting international investment, according to the text.
The fall in oil prices, as a result of the violent drop in world consumption caused by the covid-19 pandemic, had a strong impact on the economy of Equatorial Guinea, which in August reshuffled the government, and in October replaced the Finance Minister, as a resource to combat the crisis, assumed by President Teodoro Obiang Nguema himself.
The head of state stated at the time that he was obliged "to take strict measures to mitigate the effects of a serious economic recession and prevent political and social instability.
Obiang then stressed that "economic reasons" justified the dissolution of the previous government and that the new executive - albeit fundamentally with the same cast - should "seek specific and viable solutions to the current problems faced by the countries of the world and the economic problems.
The Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU) considered at the beginning of the fourth quarter of this year that Equatorial Guinea will need more financial aid in addition to the International Monetary Fund (IMF) program, foreseeing a 5.5 percent drop in GDP by 2021.
In a note on the country's economy sent to clients, EIU analysts estimated that Equatorial Guinea will face a 12.7 percent recession in GDP this year and that by 2021 the economy will break again, contrary to what the IMF predicts, which anticipates a growth of the Equato-Guinean economy next year.
Since its independence from Spain in 1968, Equatorial Guinea has been considered by human rights groups as one of the most repressive countries in the world due to allegations of detention and torture of dissidents and electoral fraud.
Obiang, who has led the country since 1979 when he overthrew his uncle, Francisco Macias, in a coup d'état, is the longest serving president in the world.
Equatorial Guinea has been a member of the CPLP since 2014, which is still composed of Angola, Brazil, Cape Verde, Guinea-Bissau, Mozambique, Portugal, São Tomé and Príncipe and Timor-Leste.
