🎬New dispensation

Gabon finally moves on from the Bongo dynasty

On Saturday, the people of Gabon went to the polls to elect a new president. Only one thing was different this time; in more than half a century, none of the candidates went by a last name of Bongo. A fresh set of faces, including Gabon’s transitional president, General Brice Oligui Nguema, a distant cousin of ousted former President Ali Bongo, vied for the apex seat.

Nguema, who led the coup that ousted Bongo in August 2023, was declared winner of Saturday’s election according to provisional results. His 90.35% votes secured is the largest win margin recorded in the country’s political history and has cemented his grip on power.

Real change or just a rebrand?

Nguema, who was once the head of the Republican Guard under Bongo, led his campaign as a reformer, proclaiming multiple times that he intends to move away from the ‘old guard’ (his former job) and diversify the country’s heavily oil-dependent economy into agriculture, tourism, and industry.

His campaign however, was very reminiscent of previous outings led by the Bongos:

• Just before the elections, he changed the law that banned military officers from contesting in civilian elections. Immediately after the coup, he promised to return power to civilian rule.

• Many strong opposition candidates were banned from contesting or jailed just before the elections.

• Alain Bilie-by-Nze, one of the opposition figures, called the election “a stage-managed display of power intent on clinging to authority under the guise of change.”

He looks legit. Despite over $3 billion owed in international bonds, Nguema’s policies grew the economy by 2.9% in 2024, up from 2.5% in 2023. Under Ali Bongo, the country had as much manufacturing prowess as an animal farm with one out-of-five people unemployed.

Some good news for France. Unlike all of his coup predecessors, Nguema, in his acceptance speech yesterday, promised to keep ties to France. Cutting some slack to Paris who has seen each of its former colonies cut ties with it and even going as far as repealing French as an official language. -OA.

An all-female spaceship

Yesterday, Pop star Katy Perry and five other women safely returned to Earth after reaching space aboard Jeff Bezos's Blue Origin rocket. The singer was joined by Bezos's fiancée Lauren Sánchez and CBS presenter Gayle King, who said a highlight of the flight was hearing Perry sing Louis Armstrong's "What a Wonderful World". After landing back on Earth, Perry said she felt "super connected to life" and "so connected to love".

The flight lasted around 11 minutes and took the six women more than 100km (62 miles) above Earth, crossing the internationally recognised boundary of space and giving them a few moments of weightlessness.

• Ivorian finance mogul Tidjane Thiam is facing a row of accusations calling for a block on his presidential aspirations due to his French nationality.

• Starlink is now available in Somalia, according to Elon Musk,

• Twelve French diplomats were ordered out of Algeria on Monday in response to the arrest of three Algerians in France last week.

• A human trafficking ring responsible for smuggling Moroccans into Spain has been dismantled, per Europol.

• Pope Francis opened Holy Week with an in-person appearance at St. Peter’s Square