Equatorial Guinea

9
p
Kié-Ntem
Province
Kié-Ntem Province is in the far northeast of mainland Río Muni. This is a land of
wide open spaces, unexplored forest and cross-border trade. Far less hot and wet
than the coastal region, Kié-Ntem is a great place to camp, look for rare wildlife or
perhaps even practise your French.
It shares a northern border with Cameroon, and an eastern border with Gabon
(South Province and Woleu-Ntem Province respectively). Domestically, travelling
south from this province you enter Wele-Nzas, and heading west you reach Centro
Sur Province.
The capital city is Ebebiyín, located in the very northeast of the province, sitting
on the border of Equatorial Guinea, Gabon and Cameroon. Other important
settlements in the province include Micomeseng and Ncue.
Official government estimates put the population at around a quarter of a
million, with Ebebiyín being the largest settlement, although accurate population
figures for the town are impossible to find. The Reserva Natural del Monte Temelón
(page 201) and the Piedra Bere Natural Monument (pages 204–5) both straddle the
border between this province and Wele-Nzas.
Note that there are no tour operators based in Kié-Ntem Province. You are
advised to make arrangements for visiting the area through companies based in
Malabo (page 65) or Bata (page 152) before your arrival.
HISTORY
As with Wele-Nzas, Kié-Ntem has been inhabited for thousands of years but came
very late to the ‘Scramble for Africa’. Similar to its southern neighbour, it is likely
that Pygmy groups had the space to themselves for almost 15 millennia until the
arrival of Bantu groups from the northwest. The Bissio ethnic group, now resident
in the coastal regions of Río Muni, may have transited through Kié-Ntem in search
of a new home, having been displaced from their homeland in Ebolowa, southern
Cameroon, by other more powerful ethnic groups.
More recently, Kié-Ntem has been the source of some tension between
Equatorial Guinea and its neighbours Cameroon and Gabon. In January 2014
a deal negotiated by the Central African Economic and Monetary Community
(CEMAC) was supposed to come into effect that allowed the free movement
of people and goods across all members’ borders. Both Equatorial Guinea and
Gabon, who have far stronger economies than their other African neighbours,
have blocked the deal for fear of being flooded with immigrants. This has
led to huge border queues at Kie-Ossi in Cameroon. If seeking to cross at
this point, be sure to seek local advice first, or check the status on http://
africabordermonitor.com.
Kié-Ntem Province HISTORY
9
207