Washington, October 2, 2025 - On 29 September, the Swiss government announced that it entered into an agreement with the government of Equatorial Guinea to spend US$28.4 millions of corruption proceeds to fund primary healthcare services for vulnerable people in the Central African nation. The funds were confiscated following a 2019 auction of twenty-five luxury cars by the Swiss authorities from the Vice President of Equatorial Guinea, Mr. Teodoro Nguema Obiang Mangue.
EG Justice has serious concerns regarding the lack of involvement of civil society organizations or nationals from Equatorial Guinea in the negotiation process, and its ability to actually benefit the population.
“Once again, Switzerland has exhibited a non-inclusive approach in its negotiations–behind closed doors–with the same kleptocrat that embezzled the funds in the first instance, and withholding details in an agreement that ignores the people it was supposed to benefit,” said Tutu Alicante, Executive Director of EG Justice. “As currently written, this agreement puts the fox in charge of the chicken coop and it undermines the fight against kleptocracy and impunity. It lacks the rigorous checks and balances, independent oversight tools, and a genuine political commitment to benefit the people of Equatorial Guinea,”
The $28.4 million is the proceeds of a legal probe against the vice-president of Equatorial Guinea in Geneva that included a $100 million yacht which was later returned to Vice President Teodorin Nguema Obiang, as part of the settlement agreement. At the time, that decision was fiercely criticized by the UNCAC coalition and many NGOs. In fact, in an astonishing move, Teodorin used strawmen to buy back most of the 25 seized luxury cars auctioned by the Bonhams as part of the settlement.
Equatorial Guinea has persistently spent less than 2% of its budget on healthcare. The country’s hospitals generally lack adequately trained personnel, the sanitary conditions are abhorrent, and access to adequate care is almost non-existent.
The Swiss agreement allocates funds to build a new laboratory in La Paz-Oyala, an expensive, hyper-exclusive hospital, in a sparsely populated city with a history of under utilized infrastructure. The 2025 budget of Equatorial Guinea already includes an $8 million allotment for that hospital in Oyala, which remains non-operational.
While the money from the corrupt proceeds could benefit some people, we are concerned that the Vice-President of Equatorial Guinea and his allies will find a way to divert the funds for their personal benefit, or stand in the way of implementation by the Swiss organizations. EG Justice has consistently documented how funds directed to health programs have been further embezzled by the country's elite. For example, in 2024, the government of Equatorial Guinea appears to have ended, without justification, an ongoing restitution initiative concerning the return of funds from a confiscation of assets against Mr. Obiang by the United States of America (USA). The apparent unilateral and abrupt termination of this initiative by the government led to the expiration of over 400,000 doses of the Janssen COVID-19 vaccines.
Additionally, in September 2025, while the Swiss and Equatoguinean governments were negotiating the current agreement, the International Court of Justice (ICJ) ruled against Equatorial Guinea’s request to block the sale of a $150 million mansion in Paris, seized during a corruption probe against Teodorin, which ended in a conviction in 2021.
Switzerland, which does not maintain a full embassy in Malabo, ignored these precedents and instead chose to negotiate with representatives of the same corrupt vice president without safeguards, and regardless of international principles of accountability that Switzerland committed to in the Global Forum on Asset Recovery (GFAR Principles).
“Neither the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation, nor the Swiss Tropical and Public Health Institute nor the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation, both key partners in this agreement, have any experience operating in Equatorial Guinea,” Tutu Alicante said. “Undoubtedly, their inexperience working in an environment characterized by a deeply rooted and systematic corruption, leaves the door wide open for vice president Teodorin to use his position to undermine this agreement and recoup the money initially seized from him.”
We call on the government of Switzerland to take steps to remedy the situation by sitting down with non-state actors from Equatorial Guinea to find a shared purpose in ensuring that the assets are judiciously utilized for the benefit of citizens.