What to expect in Malabo as you support the Lions

The Malabo stadium which is going to host the Cameroon versus Mali encounter was as busy as a bee hive as workers put last minute finishing touches on the edifice. Everywhere around the stadium, workers were yesterday putting a fresh coat of paint, sweeping or cleaning the edifice.

The CAF team was also busy putting up posters and checking the functioning of equipment. Some media companies were busy setting up their apparatus for the optimal coverage of the group D games. Workers could be seen raising tents over the entry into the stadium from the dressing room. Even the lawns outside the stadium have been trimmed and security stepped up around the stadium.

Fang, Pidgin Alternate Languages in Malabo

As opposed to Angola where Cameroonians had difficulties communicating as Portuguese was the sole language of communicating, Equatorial Guinea has Pidgin English and Fang language as alternative languages of communication in case of inability to communicate in Spanish language.

All natives of Malabo known as the Boubis understand and speak Pidgin English, said a taxi driver. The Fang who hail from Bata speak the fang language spoken in the South of Cameroon. As such, each time communication is not possible either in Spanish or French, a member of the CT team plays the role of interpreter in the fang language which immediately inspires confidence and conviviality. The other languages are Bissio and Ndowe but they are in the minority.

High Cost of Living in Malabo

Most visitors to Malabo are shocked by the high cost of living. The cheapest hotel cost FCFA 60,000 which can be equated to an inn or what is called auberge in Cameroon. This has caused some members of the Cameroon delegation to move out of their rooms and pair up either in two, three or four people per room so as to share the cost. A taxi drop in the day cost FCFA500 and FCFA 1,000 at night.

A plate of food that would cost FCFA 500 in Cameroon is sold at FCFA3,000. The problem is that everything in Malabo is imported as the inhabitants prefer white collar jobs and don’t do farming. One minute of mobile telephone conversation outside the country cost FCFA 800 and within the country FCFA500. Internet communication cost FCFA 1,000 an hour and even then the debit is not fast enough.