Gabon and Equatorial Guinea officially brought an end on Tuesday in Addis Ababa to a border dispute that had strained relations between the two countries for more than half a century.
The two nations signed an agreement at the headquarters of the African Union (AU), one year after the International Court of Justice (ICJ) ruled in favor of Malabo.
At the heart of the dispute were Mbanié Island, covering around 30 hectares, as well as the Cocotiers and Conga islets, located in a maritime area of the Gulf of Guinea known for its oil and gas potential.
In May 2025, the ICJ ruled that sovereignty over these territories belonged to Equatorial Guinea, finding that the rights inherited from Spain at the time of the country's independence in 1968 were legally valid.
The agreement was signed by Equatorial Guinea's Minister of Foreign Affairs, Simeón Oyono Esono Angue, and President of Gabon's Constitutional Council, Dieudonné Aba'a Owono, in the presence of African Union Commission Chairperson Mahamoud Ali Youssouf.
"This matter has been definitively settled," the Equatorial Guinean foreign minister said, calling on both countries to "move forward." His Gabonese counterpart welcomed the beginning of "a new era of cooperation" between Libreville and Malabo.
The AU Commission Chairperson praised the resolution of a border dispute that had lasted for decades, describing it as a major step forward for stability and cooperation in Central Africa.
The dispute stemmed from differing interpretations of historical agreements. While Equatorial Guinea relied on a 1900 treaty signed between France and Spain, Gabon based its claim on the 1974 Bata Convention. Referred to the ICJ by both countries, the court ultimately concluded that sovereignty belonged to Equatorial Guinea.
Although Mbanié, Cocotiers, and Conga are virtually uninhabited, they occupy a strategic position because of the significant oil and gas resources believed to lie in their surrounding waters.