2023-08-30 22:30:00
GABON – Another coup in Africa, a month after the overthrow of President Mohamed Bazoum in Niger. Soldiers in Gabon announced yesterday Wednesday August 30, 2023 that they had ousted Ali Bongo Ondimba following his re-election to a third term. The putschists announced the cancellation of the ballot and the “end of the Bongo regime”, president since 2009 after succeeding his father, Omar Bongo, who governed the country for more than 40 years. Very present in this oil-rich country, France says it is monitoring the situation with “the greatest attention” et “sentenced” this attempt to overthrow power. Does the putsch threaten, like that of Niger, the French presence in the country and the very privileged relationship between Paris and Libreville?
The official results of the presidential election held last Saturday under a Internet blackouts were revealed very early in the morning of this Wednesday, August 30. President Ali Bongo Odimba, at the head of Gabon for 14 years after two 7-year terms, was re-elected with 64.27% of the vote.
If he has succeeded so far in staying in power despite a very controversial election in 2016, a cardiovascular accident (CVA) in 2018 and an aborted coup attempt in 2019, Ali Bongo seems this time overwhelmed by the events.
It was a dozen Gabonese soldiers and police, including members of the Praetorian Guard of the Presidency, who announced, in a press release read on the Gabon 24 television channel, the “end of the regime in place”.
Presenting himself as “Transition and Institutional Restoration Committee” (CTRI), these soldiers justified the coup d’etat by “irresponsible and unpredictable governance” of President Bongo, “which translates into a continuous deterioration of social cohesion that risks leading the country to chaos”. “We have decided to defend peace by putting an end to the regime in place”said one of them.
The elections, which were not held in “the conditions for a transparent, credible and inclusive ballot so hoped for by Gabonese men and women”are “cancelled”. For this reason, “all the institutions of the republic are dissolved, namely the government, the Senate, the National Assembly and the Constitutional Court”have again announced the military.
Scenes of jubilation in Libreville, condemnation of France
CTRI members called “the population in peace and serenity” and announced “Borders closed until further notice”. The soldiers also expressed their “attachment to the respect of Gabon’s commitments to the international community”.
Ali Bongo Ondimba was appointed “under house arrest” with his family and doctors. One of his sons, tipped to succeed him, was arrested for “high treason”. In a video broadcast from his residence, the president called “all his friends around the world to make noise” to support him.
In some neighborhoods of the capital Libreville, the news of the coup was greeted among Gabonese by scenes of jubilation. Images posted on social networks show people cheering on soldiers in their pick-ups. State television repeatedly broadcast images of General Brice Oligui Nguema, head of the Republican Guard (GR), carried in triumph by soldiers.
International reactions are linked. Josep Borrell, head of European diplomacy, believes that “this coup will increase instability in the whole region”. China, which “closely follows the evolution of the situation in Gabon”called “to the immediate return to normal order and to guarantee the personal safety of Ali Bongo”. Russia says “deeply concerned”.
France, which had been following the situation in Gabon until then with “the greatest attention” in the words of Prime Minister Élisabeth Borne, condemned the coup through the voice of Olivier Véran, government spokesperson. “France condemns the military coup that is underway in Gabon” and Paris “Monitoring very carefully the evolution of the situation”.
French diplomacy “reaffirms its wish that the result of the election, when it is known, can be respected”, added Véran during a press conference after the Council of Ministers. In a statement to AFP, he recalled “France’s attachment to free and transparent electoral processes”.
The French presence threatened?
Very present in Gabon with more than 80 companies, France mainly imports raw materials such as oil, minerals and wood from this Central African country. According to the French Embassy in Libreville, French companies established in Gabon represent 3.2 billion euros in turnover.
Does this coup threaten this privileged relationship? Unlike the putschists in Niger, the soldiers who deposed Ali Bongo have so far made no statement hostile to France and its interests. But the Gabonese regularly express their rejection of the French presence, demanding “the end of Françafrique” and the abolition of the use of the CFA Franc, currencies inherited from French colonization.
When the coup was announced, the French mining group Eramet, which employs some 8,000 people, mostly Gabonese, announced the cessation of its activities there. “Following the latest ongoing events”the group has “put on hold” its activities in Gabon and “follows” the situation to “to protect the safety of its personnel and the integrity of its facilities”.
This French company is present in Gabon through two subsidiaries. The first is Comilog, which specializes in the extraction of manganese, an ore of which Eramet is the second largest producer on an international scale and holds 25% of world reserves, estimated at 7 gigatonnes.
Gabon’s share of France’s manganese supply is thus greater than Niger’s share of France’s uranium supply, estimated at 19% between 2005 and 2020. As for Eramet’s second subsidiary, Setrag, the latter ensures the railway operation of the line which connects the Atlantic coast to the south-east of the country.
For its part, TotalEnergies indicated in a press release that its main priority is to“ensure the safety of its employees and operations”without giving further details.
Present in Gabon for more than 90 years, the oil company carries out hydrocarbon exploration and production activities there. In 2022, crude oil production from the fields stood at 5.8 million barrels. The production of TotalEnergies is far behind that of another French group, Maurel & Prom, whose production reached 9.3 million barrels during the past year.
As a result of this coup in Gabon, the shares of these three French groups fell by 15 to 20% on the Paris Stock Exchange.
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