The Bakoya are pygmies, earlier known as Négrilles or Babinga,[1] who inhabitant the rainforest between Cameroon and the Great Lake region of the Congo Basin in Central Africa.
Before they adapted to the agricultural practices in the new settlements in Gabon along the flanks of the road, Bakoya were “semi-nomadic hunter-gatherers” like the other forest-dwelling pygmies; they resided in small huts.
[1] According to the oral traditions of the Bakoya, during their travel through the forests they accompanied the Bongom, a non-pygmie tribe.
While the Bongom moved out of the forests and established themselves on the Mékambo-Mazingo Road by setting up the villages of Ego, Grand Itumbi, Ngunangu and Ibea, the Bakoya had stayed back in the forest to harvest their crops of u.panda (Panda oleosa) and did not move to the Mékambo-Mazingo Road immediately.
However, in recent years there is an effort to project their history as a matter of tourism interest and their culture has been brought forth in the form of exhibitions, lectures and discussions.