Spotlight | Gabon
Ali Bongo, Jean Ping square off

Palace Intrigues
Denis Sassou Nguesso, Pascaline Bongo, Sylvère Koyo, and Thomas Boni Yayi

Intrigues big and small: every Tuesday, Africa Intelligence takes a peek into the corridors of power in Africa and beyond.

Congo RepublicPascaline Bongo's discreet visit to Denis Sassou Nguesso

TogoMacron's Africa adviser meets Faure Gnassingbé in Lomé

Ivory CoastTrouble stirs at the Grande Loge de Côte d'Ivoire

GuineaThomas Boni Yayi postpones Conakry visit

Gabon
Sinohydro back on Meridiam's payroll

The infrastructure firm Meridiam has selected Sinohydro to build the Kinguélé dam, for which it has the concession. The Chinese firm has longstanding ties with the presidential family.

Gabon
Télésud bankruptcy a double blow for Pascaline

Two days after losing her title as representative of the president, Pascaline Bongo has seen the pan-African television company that she has been sponsoring for ten years cease trading.

Gabon
Jean Eyeghe Ndong dreams of presidency

Having embarked from mid-February to early March on a tour of France and South Africa to raise awareness of the [...]

Gabon
Ali Bongo keeps it in the family again

As was the case with his last government, the president is continuing to found his power on family ties to regimes past. Analysis.

Guinea, Ivory Coast
Sift Ivoire to construct solar power stations in Conakry

The company Sift Ivoire has been chosen by the Guinean [...]

Gabon
Guy Nzouba Ndama distances himself from Jean Ping

On 10 January, the 71-year-old founder and president of the opposition party Les Democrates, Guy Nzouba Ndama (aka ‘Moukombo'), is [...]

Gabon
SGS on the edge of the precipice

Societe gabonaise de services (SGS), which specialises in private security, [...]

Spotlight | Gabon
Third social tour for Ali‘16!

The fruit of the national dialogue launched in May between the government and parts of the opposition, the new 38-member executive formed by Ali Bongo on 21 August is unlikely to calm the tensions which have been coursing through Gabon [.

Gabon
Rene Ndemezo'o Obiang, the master of self-reinvention

Rene Ndemezo'o Obiang continues at the age of 70 to excel in the art of political reinvention. Previously the election [...]

Gabon
Ben Moubamba plays the part of Bongo's enforcer

A former opponent who switched sides, the deputy prime minister has turned out to be Ali Bongo's most effective enforcer against his adversaries.

France, Gabon
Ping makes contact with Macron

While he still claims to be Gabon’s "president elect" following [...]

Gabon
Ali Bongo retains most of his old team

Having caught the opposition off-guard with his hasty swearing-in in [...]

Gabon
Leon-Paul Ngoulakia wooed by Bongo adversaries

Gabonese politician Leon-Paul Ngoulakia, 58, was beaten up by truncheon-wielding men in Libreville on December 18. Ngoulakia, a first cousin [...]

Gabon
Mba Obame’s death leaves way clear for Bongo

Although President Ali Bongo has failed to garner political mileage from the death of opposition leader Andre Mba Obame, he no longer has any serious opposition in the lead-up to the 2016 elections.

Gabon
Ali Bongo keeps watchful eye on rivals

Ali Bongo’s rehabilitation of the opposition party Union Nationale gives his rivals an official platform but also allows him to keep tabs on them more easily.

Gabon
Bongo snubs opposition, thinks strategy

After struggling to deal with internal opposition, Ali Bongo is determined to focus on his record in office – however meagre it may be – and has sent envoys to spread the word throughout the country.

Gabon
Opposition meets in Paris to thrash out platform

After its attacks on Ali Bongo, Gabon’s opposition now faces the tough job of coming up with a coherent political programme of its own ahead of 2016.

Gabon
Collection box for permanent Bongo memorial

Libreville is looking to build a mausoleum for Omar Bongo but funders are not exactly queuing up to finance it.

Gabon
Bongo, Ping warm upforelectoral clash

Ali Bongo has been lashing back at Jean Ping's swingeing attacks on his regime. Although it is some way off yet, the 2016 presidential campaign is shaping up to be a dirty fight.

Gabon
Unrest stirs in Libreville

Ali Bongo is back touring foreign parts again, perhaps in the hope of drawing attention away from Gabon's social and economic woes.

Gabon
Ali's hot air PR machine

Spin doctors have cast the Gabonese president as a builder. But the reality on the ground is very different.

Gabon
Accrombessi survives Haut-Ogooue

Campaigning to be "reelected" as Gabon's leader, Ali Bongo has taken measures to obtain the support of his native Haut-Ogooue province without going so far as to axe his chief of staff Maixent Accrombessi, as some would have liked.

Gabon
Pascaline Bongo appeals to Ping

Confirmed on June 10 in the honorary role of Ali [...]

Gabon
Bongo's facelift for spy agencies

Gabonese president Ali Bongo has overhauled the country's security services in a key move in advance of 2016 elections.

Gabon
"Council of war" against Ali Bongo in Paris!

With just two days to go to the third New York Forum Africa (NYFA), which is due to take place [...]

Gabon
Ping hones strategy against Ali

Jean Ping could be a serious challenger to Ali Bongo in the 2016 presidential elections. He has been mobilising his national and international contacts to beef up his political campaign.

Gabon
Jean Ping on warpath

Ali Bongo's regime is coming under attack at home as well as abroad - from Jean Ping, the former African Union commission chief who is mobilising opposition to Bongo in Libreville.

Gabon
Ping resignation sparks new defections

After his resignation from the ruling PDG party, Jacques Adiahenot, a former stalwart of Omar Bongo's regime, is expected to join forces with the former African Union commission chief.

Gabon
Total pays for Ping

Tax adjustments running into the hundreds of millions against Total and other foreign companies signal the financial situation in Gabon, but they are also a symptom of Libreville's gunning for Jean Ping.

Gabon
Pascaline Bongo clears desk

Furious that palace insiders have blamed her for her former [...]

Gabon
Ping warms up for 2016

Former African Union Commission chairman Jean Ping’s recent attack on Ali Bongo was an early pre-electoral salvo.