Abubakar Hashim
President Julius Maada Bio, with virtually all African Presidents, new AU Chairperson, Mahamoud Youssouf, Trump’s Special Advicer on Africa, Massad Boulos, will attend today’s historic inauguration of Gabon’s new President, Brice Clotaire Nguema.
President Nguema led a coup, ending decades of Bongo family rule. He swept the last month’s elections with nearly 95% of the votes.
The former Junta leader, who toppled Ali Bongo in August 2023, ending 55 years of dynastic rule, will be sworn in today, at a 40,000 capacity stadium, after a 19-month transition government.
Gabon is one of the richest countries in Africa in oil and gas. It has one of the highest GDP per capita, $16.9 billion, ranked 121st in the world, ahead of even Nigeria, in per capita rankings, due to its small population of 2.3 million people.
It is an upper-middle-income country along the West Coast of Central Africa, with abundant petroleum resources.
*Abubakar Hashim, is our West Africa Bureau Chief. He is currently writing from Nigeria