"LE GABON ENERVANT" OR "ANNOYING GABON"

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Some members of the Front Des membres du Front

English Version From an article published by CNN, on 26 January 2016, you can read by clicking here . Poverty in Africa has declined significantly in recent years, showing evidence that the past decade of economic growth has improved the lives of ordinary people. The findings come from a new report by Afrobarometer, a pan-African, non-partisan research network, which conducted face to face interviews with about 50,000 citizens across 35 African countries. The trend is very recent: in roughly four years between consecutive surveys, from 2011 to 2015, "lived poverty" fell in 22 of 33 countries surveyed in both rounds. But while the continent can no longer be considered poor overall, poverty is still a widespread issue, and huge differences remain from country to country. Marked differences: Mauritius, the least poverty-stricken country, scores 0.10 on the Lived Poverty Index -- which measures how frequently people go without basic ne...

Gagan Gupta on the left Gagan Gupta á gauche (Photo: Gabonreview) English Version In an article whose title is " Tout ce qu’il faut savoir sur Olam Gabon par Olam Gabon " by François Ndjimbi, published by Gabonreview on Wednesday, 29 August 2012, Olam Gabon was presented to us as a group interested exclusively in agricultural production, the production of agricultural fertilizers and the operation of the Special Economic Zone of Nkok. Curiously, in its edition of 19 January 2016, Africa Mining Intelligence suggests that Gagan Gupta, CEO of Olam Gabon, would actually be involved in the exploitation of mining logistics, by becoming a partner of the regime in the business of port activities of mining companies on the Owendo’s port. According to Africa Mining Intelligence, Gagan Gupta, who in addition to being head of Olam Gabon, also directs the Special Economic Zone of Nkok, recently obtained a loan of 51.6 billion CFA francs (almost 79 million eur...

Ali Bongo wearing a military disguise Ali Bongo accoutré d’un déguisement militaire (Photo : Présidence) English Version According to La Lettre du Continent, Ali Bongo is purported to have required the government to preserve social programs in anticipation of the presidential election of July. This is for him a way to alleviate voter discontent before the disaster that is the economic situation in general and his record in particular. Ali Bongo reportedly requested that the budget services ensure at all cost the preservation of social spending and salaries of civil servants, despite the fact that the public finances are drained. Jean-Fidèle Otandault, the Director of the Budget and Public Finance, reportedly said that only social spending, those related to the election of 2016, those about wages and salaries of public employees, expenses and equipment infrastructure related to the CAN 2017, and finally the school and student scholarships, would be a priority; in...

English Version In a speech given on 18 June 1941 and broadcasted by Radio London, General Charles De Gaulle, speaking of the Vichy regime, which had been placed in power in France by the occupying Germans, said the following: "On 17 June 1940 disappeared in Bordeaux the last regular Government of France. The joint team of defeatism and betrayal seized power in a panic pronunciamiento. A clique of irresponsible politicians, businessmen without honor, greedy officials and bad generals rushed toward usurpation and bondage at the same time. An old man of eighty-four years old, a sad shell of a past glory, was hoisted on the bulwark of the defeat to endorse capitulation and deceive the stunned people. The next day Free France was born...” When we read the article published in the daily Le Parisien, and listen to the presentation of this umpteenth birth certificate by Ounaïda Bongo’s lawyer, we wonder whether Ali Bongo has any sense of honor left. Havi...

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English Version Published by The Economist on 26 January 2016 THE relationship remains healthy, officials were quick to stress. It was a “non-event for us”, French diplomats insisted. France continues to be “extremely attached” to its relationship with Gabon, the foreign ministry made clear. After hurried meetings in Paris and Libreville on January 18th, any “misunderstanding” appears to have been quietly resolved. Nevertheless, the short spat between the central African nation and its former colonial ruler was revealing. It began with a remark made by the French prime minister, Manuel Valls, during a television interview on the evening of January 16th. Asked whether the president of Gabon, Ali Bongo Ondimba, had been democratically elected in 2009 when he took office, Mr Valls replied, “No, not as I understand it.” The Gabonese government, furious that Mr Valls appeared to be questioning the president’s legitimacy, responded by announcing that the country’s...

Image: Scott Morgan English Version Published on 25 January 2016 Last week in New York the UN Secretariat held frank discussions with the Governments of Gabon and of Equatorial Guinea. The purpose of these talks were to resolve disputes going back to the 1970s regarding Mbanie', Cocotiers and and Congas Islands and other common areas. The recent talks focused on Mbanie'. This island has plentiful deposits of Petroleum and has been the focus of talks since 2003. Discussions regarding this issue ramped up during the last days of the Omar Bongo Administration. The goal of the United Nations is to ultimately submit this dispute to the International Court of Justice where the final adjudication will take place and proper ownership determined. More to come as Gabon is one of the 10 Non-Permanent Members of the UN Security Council French Version Publié le 25 Janvier 2016 La semaine dernière à New York, le Secrétariat General de l...

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Image: FNAC English version One of our regular readers asked us for a simple interpretation of the 124th place of Gabon in the world’s democracy index, out of 176 countries. Our interpretation is as follows: Imagine that democracy is a subject in high school and that this ranking is an order of merit of the students rated between 0 and 20/20. If we divide the 167 countries into four groups, each would have 41.75 countries corresponding to marks between a 0/20 and 20/20 rating; meaning: The best in democracy ranked between 1 and 41, would receive scores ranging from 20/20 to 15/20. The best Africans countries are Mauritius (18), Botswana (28), Cape Verde (32) and South Africa (37). The good and medium in democracy ranked between 42 and 82 would receive scores ranging from 14.99/20 to 10/20. African countries in this group are Ghana (53), Tunisia (57), Lesotho (54), Namibia (72), Zambia (73) and Senegal (75). The weak and poor in democracy ranked betw...

To read, please click here Pour lire cliquer ici English Version Gabon ranks 124 in the Economist Democracy Index, over a total of 167 countries in this ranking. French Version Le Gabon se classe 124 ième à l’index de démocratie de L’Economiste, sur un total de 167 pays dans le monde.