• The project was first announced in 2011 by President Obiang.

• This city’s location was chosen for its easy access and benign climate.

• It also has a tropical climate that borders between a tropical monsoon climate and a tropical savannah climate. 

Formerly known as Djibloho or Oyala, Ciudad de la Paz is a city in Equatorial Guinea that is being built to replace Malabo as the national capital. It was first announced in 2011 by President Obiang.

It was established as an urban district in Wele-Nzas in 2015. It is however, now the administrative headquarters of Djibloho, Equatorial Guinea’s newest province created in 2017, and is located near the town of Mengomeyén. In 2017, the city was officially renamed Ciudad de la Paz (“City of Peace”).

This city’s location was chosen for its easy access and benign climate. In contrast to Malabo which is on the island of Bioko, notably on the mainland. It was designed by the Portuguese Studio for Architecture and Urbanism, Future Architecture Thinking.

This project is projected to have around 200,000 inhabitants, a new Parliament building, a number of presidential villas, and an area of 8150 hectares. It will also have an opera house, a cathedral, and a five-star hotel with 400 rooms. Photographs show long cuts in the dense rainforest, suggesting wide avenues, along with twin 150-meter suspension bridges crossing the Wele River. A new six-lane highway, dubbed the “Avenue of Justice,” and a golf course have already been carved out of the virgin forest.

Oyala – Ciudad de la Paz is located near the center of Río Muni, the continental part of Equatorial Guinea. It is located between the cities of Bata and Mongomo and 20 km from the airport of Mengomeyén. The power supply relies upon the 120 MW Djibloho Dam in the district Djibloho Evinayong. The city will be situated in the remote eastern portion of the country, approximately 125 kilometers (75 miles) from the coast. Every nail, brick, and tile is imported. 

It also has a tropical climate that borders between a tropical monsoon climate and a tropical savannah climate. It has high overall rainfall, averaging 2142 mm a year, which supports the lush rainforests in the region. There is an extensive wet season, spanning 10 months of the year from September to June, and a brief and slightly cooler dry season covering the remaining two months, July and August. There is also a noticeably drier, though still wet, stretch in December and January.

Temperatures remain very warm throughout the course of the year, albeit lower than one might expect in other places with the same climate, especially considering its proximity to the equator.