"LE GABON ENERVANT" OR "ANNOYING GABON"

English version  Gabon has just taken on heavy debt. But instead of telling us clearly, the newspaper  L'Union  uses the euphemism: raising funds. An essential nuance in public finance is the subtle difference between raising funds and increasing one's debt. It is accurate that Gabon recently raised 524 billion FCFA (approximately 920 million dollars) on the international financial markets. This borrowing in the form of Eurobonds is primarily intended to repay older debts that were reaching maturity. The State raises new debt to clear or repay old debt. This is what is called refinancing. The country's overall debt will therefore not mathematically increase by 524 billion, because this new debt substitutes another that is being repaid simultaneously. But although a significant part of this money is used for debt repurchasing, official press releases specify that a fraction of this fundraising is also intended to finance infrastructure projects, particularly in the water a...

English version  On July 28, 2026, in Addis Ababa, Gabon and Equatorial Guinea signed a Joint Commitment Agreement under the auspices of the African Union. This document formalizes Libreville's acceptance of the ruling issued in May 2025 by the International Court of Justice (ICJ), which definitively recognized Equatorial Guinean sovereignty over the Mbanie, Cocotiers, and Conga islands as the successor state to Spain. This is now legally final, and anyone telling you otherwise on social media or through a press release from the presidency of the republic is making a fool of you! However, while the territorial status is settled, the residual agitation in certain Gabonese circles allegedly stems from the fact that these individuals want negotiations to follow regarding the immense macroeconomic stakes underlying this dispute. The Gabonese administration's attention has pragmatically shifted from the land to the sea, as no serious person believes for a single moment that Gabon co...

 

English version  Recently, the Italian author Antonio Scurati made an analysis of Benito Mussolini that is highly influential and has been widely discussed,    in the international press. He is the author of the award-winning, multi-volume documentary novel series starting with M. Son of the Century (M. Il figlio del secolo). Scurati focuses on demystifying the dictator and analyzing how he laid the blueprint for modern political populism.  Scurati argues that Mussolini was the archetype of the modern populist leader. Rather than leading the masses with a rigid, predefined grand vision, Mussolini was a master of reading the people and telling them what they wanted to hear. Scurati describes him as a leader who didn't guide the crowd, but rather followed its darkest instincts, amplifying what the people already wanted to hear. This is very similar to what CBON does in Gabon. A central thesis of Scurati’s work is how Mussolini harnessed the collective anxiety of post-W...

English version  In Arabic culture, there is a very famous tale concerning the Lakhmid king Al-Nu'man (around the 5th century). He ordered a genius Byzantine architect, Sinammār, to build him the most magnificent of palaces: the Khawarnaq. Once the palace was completed, the king went up to the roof with the architect to admire the view. Sinammār had the misfortune of boasting about two things: he could have done even better if he had been paid more, and there was a keystone in the foundations that only he knew about, which, if removed, would cause the building to collapse. To ensure that the secret died with him and that he would never build anything as beautiful again, the king threw him off the roof. This episode gave rise to an Arabic proverb still used today: "Receiving the reward of Sinammār," which refers to extreme ingratitude in return for a good deed. Beware to those of you who like to dine with the devil; make sure you have a very long spoon! (Note: The French t...