Radarboy

World Factbook

factbook

Nice visualisation of the entire CIA World Factbook.
The above image is an extract from world industrial production growth rate. The visualisation also nicely links up to Wikipedia. So checking out industrial production growth rate I notice Equitorial Guinea’s growth is off the chart.

Says Wikipedia:
The discovery of large oil reserves in 1996 and its subsequent exploitation have contributed to a dramatic increase in government revenue. As of 2004, Equatorial Guinea is the third-largest oil producer in Sub-Saharan Africa. Its oil production has risen to 360,000 barrels/day, up from 220,000 only two years earlier.

…and…

In July 2004, the United States Senate published an investigation into Riggs Bank, a Washington-based bank into which most of Equatorial Guinea’s oil revenues were paid until recently, and which also banked for Chile’s Augusto Pinochet. The Senate report, as to Equatorial Guinea, showed that at least $35 million were siphoned off by (President) Obiang, his family and senior officials of his regime. The president has denied any wrongdoing. While Riggs Bank in February 2005 paid $9 million as restitution for its banking for Chile’s Augusto Pinochet, no restitution was made with regard to Equatorial Guinea…

On August 9, 2006, Harper’s Magazine published an article by Ken Silverstein highlighting Obiang’s recent connections with the US State Department and Independence Federal Savings Bank.

While Equatorial Guinea is currently one of the largest producers of oil in Africa, few improvements have been made to the living conditions of the people and most live in poverty. It has one of the ten last ranks among the countries on the Corruption Perception Index (ie. more corrupt than Zimbabwe).

Hmmm.

http://lawriecape.co.uk/data-vis/

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