A Central African country, Gabon is at an important turning point since it is a question of extending or interrupting the lease it has with the same family, the Bongos, in power for more than 55 years. The country has had only three presidents since its independence from France in 1960. Léon Mba from 1960 to 1967, Omar Bongo from 1967 to 2009, and finally Ali Bongo since 2009. Omar Bongo, respected for his mediation in several African crises, was a pillar of “Françafrique”, a system of political cooptation, networks and commercial preserves between Paris and its former colonies on the continent. Barely elected, his son Ali ostensibly distanced himself from the former colonial power. Nine other children of Omar Bongo are indicted in the investigation carried out since 2010 by French justice on “ill-gotten gains”, real estate constituted in France with public money embezzled from Gabon. One of his daughters, Pascaline, had an affair with reggae legend Bob Marley whom she invited to come and play in Gabon for her father’s birthday. These were the Jamaican singer’s first concerts in Africa, in January 1980. Otherwise, Gabon is also:
Gabon is one of the richest countries in Africa in terms of GDP per capita ($8,820 in 2022), thanks to its oil, timber and manganese in particular, and a small population (2.3 million inhabitants). ). It is among the very first producers of black gold in sub-Saharan Africa.
In 2020, this resource represented 38.5% of its GDP and 70.5% of its exports, according to the World Bank. But the economy, which the government fails to diversify sufficiently, still depends too heavily on hydrocarbons, and one in three inhabitants lived below the poverty line at the end of 2022, according to the World Bank.
The 268,000 square kilometer country, 88% of which is forest, is described by the World Bank as “a net carbon sink and a leader in net zero emissions initiatives”, thanks in part to efforts to reduce emissions and preserve its vast rainforest. It has a rich ecosystem.
Its national parks are home to endemic species and emblematic mammals such as forest elephants, gorillas, chimpanzees, leopards and several species of pangolins. The country has one of the highest urbanization rates on the continent, with more than four out of five Gabonese living in cities. Libreville and Port-Gentil, the economic capital, alone account for nearly 60% of the population.
The challenge of this election, which takes place at three levels (presidential, legislative and local), is to continue with the Bongos or to leave with a new team at the head of the state. Having officially won only 5,000 votes in 2016 against Jean Ping, Ali Bongo is all the more under pressure as the main opposition platform has managed to agree on the name of Albert Ondo Ossa for to represent her for the presidency.
Ali Bongo Ondimba proposes a program entitled “My pact for Gabon” by which he invites his fellow citizens “to grant him a new mandate in order to build a new republican social pact, which will strengthen the links between each child and each land of Gabon”. Objective put forward: to fight against the high cost of living and increase the purchasing power of Gabonese.
Opposite, Albert Ondo Ossa offers an alternation in the form of a break, a break that would restore dignity to Gabonese. In short, turning the page of 55 years of a system that still wants to give itself another five years.
A plant with psychotropic effects, iboga, an endemic shrub of the equatorial forest of Central Africa, is used in Gabon in the form of bark powder taken from its root, in the “bwiti” ceremonies, a traditional initiation rite. . The plant left its purely traditional use for about fifty years because of the medicinal virtues of ibogaine, one of its active principles, which would have in particular anti-addictive properties. However, ibogaine is considered a narcotic in the United States or several European countries such as France.
Most of the ibogaine used in clinics that have flourished around the world (Costa Rica, Mexico, New Zealand, the Netherlands, etc.), to wean drug addicts or help victims of post-traumatic stress, comes from illegal export. Fearing that its resource will be depleted by illegal harvesting, Gabon has adopted a new framework for trading in it.
The 34-year-old international is Gabon’s most famous footballer. He has just signed with Olympique de Marseille for three years after passing through Lille, Monaco, Saint-Étienne, the German club Borussia Dortmund and the English Arsenal, after being trained at AC Milan.
