Equatorial Guinea and Gabon have formally ended a decades-long territorial dispute by signing an agreement to implement the International Court of Justice (ICJ) ruling, which awarded sovereignty over the islands to Equatorial Guinea. The accord was signed at the African Union headquarters in Addis Ababa, with both governments pledging to respect the court’s decision and strengthen bilateral cooperation. The disagreement traced back to conflicting colonial-era treaties: a 1900 pact between France and Spain and a 1974 accord that Gabon argued had shifted sovereignty in its favor. The court sided with the earlier treaty, confirming the islands passed to Equatorial Guinea at independence in 1968. Though largely uninhabited, the islands of Mbanie, Cocotiers, and Conga sit in waters believed to hold oil and gas reserves.
Africanews