"LE GABON ENERVANT" OR "ANNOYING GABON"

English version La Lettre du Continent tells us that Fanny Pigeaud of Mediapart, will publish a book whose title will be: "The Invisible Weapon of Françafrique, A History of the CFA Franc". This will be an analysis of françafrique through that currency, and will be co-written with the Senegalese Ndongo Samba Sylla, an economist and head of the West Africa office of the Rosa Luxemburg Foundation based in Berlin. Publication date: August 30, 2018 Version française La Lettre du Continent nous dit que Fanny Pigeaud de Mediapart, publiera un livre dont le titre sera : «L'Arme invisible de la Françafrique, Une histoire du franc CFA ». Ce sera une analyse de la françafrique par la monnaie, et sera co-écrit avec le Sénégalais Ndongo Samba Sylla, économiste et responsable du bureau Afrique de l'Ouest de la Fondation Rosa Luxemburg basée à Berlin. Date de publication : le 30 aout 2018

English version A book by journalist Gilles Gaetner, is announced by La Lettre du Continent as dealing with corruption in Central Africa. The book will center mainly on Gabon, Equatorial Guinea and Congo-Brazzaville. Publication date: mid-October 2018 Version française Un ouvrage du journaliste Gilles Gaetner, est annonce par La Lettre du Continent comme traitant de la corruption en Afrique Centrale. L’ouvrage se concentrerait essentiellement sur Gabon, la Guinée-Equaroriale et le Congo-Brazzaville. Date de publication : mi-octobre 2018

English version The amount of 3000 billion CFA francs corresponds to about 6 billion dollars or 4.57 billion euros. This is the total revenue of BGFI for the year 2017. The BGFI website reveals that this Gabonese bank has branches in 11 countries, mainly in French-speaking Africa, and has a total of 2,000 employees. For example, the leading French banking group, BNP-Paribas, presented total revenues for 2017, of 43 billion euros. This group is located in 73 countries around the world and has 198011 employees. Dear readers, to give you an idea of what the hallucinating figures announced by BGFI means, we are going to compare the numbers of the two banking institutions mentioned above scaled to the employee level. • For BGFI: 4.57 billion euros / 2000 = 2.285 million euros produced per employee. • For BNP-Paribas: 43 billion euros / 198011 = 0.217 million euros produced per employee. Dear readers, every BGFI employee is 10 times more productive ...

English version The legislative elections in Gabon, now postponed for the third time, should contribute to the reconciliation of the Gabonese people, following the contested presidential elections of August 2016 and the post-electoral violence which has never been the object of an investigation by the authorities. The elections are essential in a context where human rights and fundamental freedoms remain under pressure, with limited freedom of movement for Gabonese citizens and deteriorating pre-trial detention conditions, exceeding legal deadlines and contradicting the recommendations of the Universal Periodic Review. Version française Les élections législatives au Gabon, reportées pour la troisième fois, devraient contribuer à la réconciliation du peuple gabonais, suite aux élections présidentielles contestées d'août 2016 et aux violences post-électorales qui n'ont jamais fait l'objet d'une enquête par les autorités. Les élections so...

English version When one reads the interview given by Brice Laccruche-Alihanga, one wonders if this fool knows what it means to govern a country. Governing comes from the Latin "gubernare", which means to steer a ship; hence the expression “to steer one’s ship conscientiously". A government is the body responsible for running a State. A good government is one that ensures for the country and its people better conditions and a better life. This is done through the sovereign functions of the State: the reduction of charges, the good use of taxes, access to education and health, employment, a good economy, and so on. But dear readers, Brice Laccruche-Alihanga’s interview is so obsolete and derisory that one can legitimately wonder what this man does in a position such as the Chief of Staff of a Head of State. Brice Laccruche-Alihanga, in essence, thinks that in Gabon, the system is in itself irreproachable, but it is the men chosen to give it li...