Equatorial Guinea’s President Teodoro Obiang’ Nguema has promoted his first son Teodorin Nguema Obiang as the country’s vice-president, according to a decree read on Wednesday on state television.
Teodorin who has been serving as the country’s second vice-president, will also be in charge of Defense and National Security Ministry.
Teodorin is wanted in France on suspicion of embezzlement, corruption and stealing public funds.
Obiang, Africa’s longest-serving leader, has ruled the former Spanish colony since 1979 when he staged a bloody military coup and ousted his uncle, who was later executed.
He was re-elected again in April 2016 with 93.7% of the vote.
With territory divided between the African mainland and islands in the Gulf of Guinea, Equatorial Guinea boasts the highest GDP per capita in Africa thanks to its extensive oil and gas reserves.
The country is the third-largest oil producer in sub-Saharan Africa.
However, it ranks 144 out of 187 states listed on the United Nations’ 2014 Human Development Index.
Critics accuse Obiang of failing to distribute the country’s oil wealth to the population of about 700,000.