"LE GABON ENERVANT" OR "ANNOYING GABON"

English version   At the moment, major credit rating agencies are taking a particularly harsh view of Gabon's macroeconomic trajectory, highlighting a rapid deterioration of public finances and acute liquidity pressures. Fitch recently affirmed Gabon's sovereign rating at "CCC-" on May 22, 2026 (following an initial downgrade to this level in December 2025). This rating indicates a very high refinancing and default risk. The agency justifies this position with several critical imbalances: Exploding budget deficit: The deficit widened to reach approximately 12.2% of GDP in 2025. This situation is primarily due to a sharp increase in public investment spending (which reached 11% of GDP, compared to a historical average of 2.7%). Accumulation of arrears: To finance this deficit, the state has massively accumulated payment arrears, estimated at 4.8% of GDP at the end of 2025. Public debt slippage: Fitch estimates that the debt-to-GDP ratio climbed to 81.1% in 2025 (up fro...

English version   The term sycophant, refers to a bootlicker or a flatterer. In political language, it describes a servile courtier, an opportunistic flatterer who tells their superiors only what they want to hear in order to gain favors, power, or privileges. For a developing country like Gabon, granting importance to such individuals at the highest levels of the state poses major dangers to the governance, stability, and future of the nation. The primary danger of an entourage of sycophants is that it cuts the president off from reality on the ground. To please the leader, the flatterer will mask crises, sugarcoat economic figures, and downplay social unrest. If the president believes that everything is going well (access to water, electricity, cost of living, youth unemployment), the real problems of the Gabonese people are never addressed. This leads to political decisions that are completely disconnected from national emergencies. Sycophants do not excel through their work or ...

English version   It is a striking contrast that perfectly illustrates the radically different political trajectories of both countries. On one hand, Gabon is going through a tumultuous political phase where executive and judicial authorities are tightening the screws around figures who displease them. On the other hand, Senegal is staging an institutional showdown between two former allies at the top of the state, one that is as unprecedented as it is clean. The former Prime Minister of Ali Bongo, who had become one of the most critical opposition voices against the regime, was arrested at his home by the Directorate General of Research (DGR). The authorities cite a case dating back to 2008 related to unpaid state invoices for the organization of the Festival of Cultures, whose committee he chaired. For his party ( Ensemble pour le Gabon ), this is a purely political maneuver aimed at silencing a fierce opponent who openly criticized recent nationality reforms and social media sus...

 

English version   This weekend, local residents blocked National Route 1 (RN1) near Essassa—an area located between Libreville and Kango, not far from Ntoum—to protest against three consecutive days of power outages. Dear readers, the contrast is indeed striking: the grand inauguration of the brand-new "Omar Bongo Ondimba" Convention Center, a showcase symbol that CBON wishes to project of Gabon, cruelly coincides with an intensification of power cuts in households. This glaring mismatch fuels deep frustration, but above all, it highlights the profound structural dysfunctions of the Gabonese power grid managed by the SEEG. If major buildings like the new Convention Center can operate, it is generally because they benefit from high-priority grid lines or, as is increasingly the case for new constructions, dedicated hybrid systems (high-capacity industrial backup generators). The primary issue in the Greater Libreville area lies not only in power generation, but mostly in energ...