Consumer protection in Equatorial Guinea

The regional CEMAC framework covers purchases and services including food, household appliances, vehicles, water, energy, housing, education, banking, insurance, transport, tourism and telecommunications. CEMAC, the Central African Economic and Monetary Community, adopted Directive N°02/19-UEAC-639-CM-33 on 8 April 2019. It lists 13 basic consumer rights, including protection of life, health and safety; understandable information; quality; protection of economic interests; privacy and data protection; education; collective representation; effective remedies and alternative dispute resolution. The directive also prohibits misleading or unfair practices and abusive contract clauses. A general national entitlement or direct remedy based on transposition into Equatorial Guinea was not verified, so the regional principles should not be treated as a guaranteed nationwide complaint outcome. The Dirección General de Competitividad y Protección al Consumidor within the Ministerio de Comercio y Promoción de Pequeñas y Medianas Empresas is formally documented under Decreto 71/2020. Its current operational scope and public contact channel were not verified. There is also no verified general Consumer Ombudsman or national complaint portal. For a purchase or contract dispute, keep the receipt, contract, payment proof, messages and photographs, complain to the company in writing, and then ask the Ministry or the competent authority which procedure applies. Court and legal-advice costs are not generally documented, and no general national deadline or fee schedule was verified. Financial services have a more defined complaint structure. CEMAC and COBAC rules cover banks, microfinance institutions, payment institutions and intermediaries. A consumer in this context is a natural person using the service for a non-professional purpose. Providers should give pre-contract information, a written account contract and transparent fees, obtain express consent where required, protect financial data, prevent abusive clauses and address over-indebtedness risks. A complaint should first go to the provider and is free of charge. The provider may take up to 10 days to acknowledge it and up to 45 days to answer. CNEF provides financial education and mediation for banking, microfinance, payment, insurance and securities matters, while COBAC supervises and sanctions covered financial institutions. A 2022 snapshot found internal complaint handlers at five banks, but current staffing and contact details are not guaranteed. Sector-specific procedures matter for other common problems. Tourism businesses have an official libro de reclamaciones, meaning an official complaints book, and 2025 rules called for liability insurance and digital payment or card facilities for travel organizers; implementation and reimbursement deadlines were not verified. For electricity billing, payment posting or disconnection problems involving SEGESA, retain bills and payment records and complain to the provider and relevant ministry; no national standard for advance disconnection notice, compensation or alternative dispute resolution timing was verified. The Ministry of Health licenses and inspects pharmacies and medicines. Suspected expired, counterfeit or untraceable medicines can be reported to a pharmacy, the ministry, an inspector or the police, but no public nationwide recall or refund procedure was verified. Digital fraud is separate from an ordinary refund dispute. Under Ley Núm. 7/2024, reports may involve the police, Fiscalía or ANCIC depending on the conduct. Computer fraud carries stated penalties of 3 to 6 years and 5,000,000 to 50,000,000 FCFA; online commercial imitation carries 3 to 5 years and 1,000,000 to 10,000,000 FCFA, rising to 4 to 6 years and 5,000,000 to 20,000,000 FCFA for medicines, food or other consumer goods. Preserve packaging, batch numbers, invoices, payment records, screenshots and communications. Criminal reporting does not itself establish a consumer refund or compensation procedure. Spanish is used in national sources, while much CEMAC material is in French, and English access to official channels was not verified.