Equatorial Guinea participated in Atlantic slave-trading networks but was not a major departure point for the transatlantic slave trade. Its islands and mainland coast were near key slave-trading areas in West and Central Africa, particularly the Bight of Biafra and the broader Congo–Angola region.

Some enslaved individuals were taken from or passed through territories linked to current-day Equatorial Guinea.

However, the scale was much smaller than in primary exporting regions such as Angola, the Congo area, the Bight of Benin, or the Bight of Biafra. The country had a relatively small population and a less-developed slave-export infrastructure.

Colonial control was limited during much of the slave trade era. Later, the island of Bioko (formerly Fernando Po) became significant for the UK and Spain for anti-slavery patrols and colonial administration during the 1800s.