“I am the President of Gabon, Ali Bongo Ondimba. Because the people here are detaining me and my family, I am sending a message to all our friends around the world to speak out”
With these words, the overthrown President Ali Bongo Ondimba announced that the power of the ‘Bongo’ family, which has been going on for 56 years in Gabon, has collapsed.
Ali Bongo Ondimba is the son of Omar Bongo, who ruled the country for 42 years.
Omar Bongo expanded his country’s foreign policy in the early 2000s, establishing close relations with Britain, China and the United States.
When he died in 2009, his son Ali Bongo succeeded him.
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Ali Bongo was elected president for the third time on 26 August.
However, a group of soldiers seized power and placed the president under house arrest on the grounds that the election was rigged.
The coup in Gabon is a fate that African countries often experience…
So much so that, according to a study in America, from 1950 to 2021, there were 214 coups on the African continent. 45 out of 54 countries have been subjected to a coup attempt at least once.
Gabon was the last address in the series of coups in Africa.
“The coups created a domino effect”
Africa Expert Ibrahim Nassır stated that the coup process started in the Central African Republic and that the coup that took place here had a domino effect and ended in Sudan, Chad, Mali, Burkina Faso and finally Gabon.
Nassir stated that the common feature of these countries is that they are a French country and that the regimes lose their reputation in the eyes of the people.
Gabon, which has a coast on the Atlantic Ocean, is the scene of conflicts of interest of many countries with its rich underground resources.
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Stating that Gabon is and will be the scene of many conflicts due to its oil country and geopolitical position, Nassır said, “The USA and France have military bases there. China is the country’s biggest partner in terms of trade. Therefore, China, Russia, USA, France And the presence of England there caused international competition in this country,” he said.
Gabon, a member of OPEC, Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries, is the world’s major oil producer with 2 billion barrels of oil reserves.
It is stated that the coup may affect oil prices.
Since Gabon is a member of OPEC, it will definitely cause fluctuations in the international energy market. The reason is that we can think that it will increase the competition between OPEC countries and therefore will increase oil trade and oil prices in the international arena.
Ibrahim Nassir Africa Expert
In return for rich underground resources; countries whose people are struggling with hunger and poverty…
Corruption and chronic colonialism increase the reaction of the people of the black continent. Soldiers also use this reaction for the coup.
There is a risk of coup in many countries in Africa such as Chad, Ivory and Cameroon.