Equatorial Guinea Opens Talks on Digital Platforms’ Contribution to State Revenues

• Equatorial Guinea plans to discuss how major digital platforms, including Meta, can contribute to public revenues from activities in the country.
• The government is considering mechanisms to capture revenue from digital businesses even when they provide services from abroad.
• The initiative builds on a broader effort to track undeclared digital revenues, while other African markets are introducing taxes and levies on cross-border digital services.

Equatorial Guinea plans to establish a mechanism that would allow the state to capture part of the revenue generated by major digital platforms in its market. Vice President Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mangue asked officials in Malabo on Tuesday, September 8, to open discussions with Meta and other companies in the sector to determine how they could contribute to public finances.

The commission handling the matter will engage with Meta, which owns Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp, and assess different payment mechanisms. The government wants companies that conduct economic activities in Equatorial Guinea to contribute to public revenues, including companies that provide their services from abroad.

Digital revenue assessment already underway

The initiative follows earlier efforts by Malabo to monitor revenue generated by certain digital activities. In June 2026, the government reviewed a project presented by N-Soft that sought to improve the collection of undeclared revenue from e-commerce, digital platforms, social networks and digital currencies. The proposed system relies on a technology platform that can monitor and analyze transactions conducted by the relevant operators in real time.

The government has now expanded the scope beyond domestic economic operators. The commission appointed by the vice president has received authorization to engage with other digital platforms and assess contribution mechanisms for their activities, while also considering their terms of service.

This approach aligns Equatorial Guinea with a broader push across African markets to capture revenue from cross-border digital services more effectively.

Several African countries have already started adapting their tax systems to these activities. In Guinea, for example, authorities introduced a digital compliance levy in May 2026 for foreign platforms that provide services such as streaming, cloud computing, digital advertising and e-commerce.

The levy carries a transitional rate of 3%, before moving to a rate structure ranging from 1.5% to 7%.

Samira Njoya