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In April 2025, Brice Oligui Nguema was formally elected as president of the Gabonese Republic. Two years on from the coup d’état that overthrew the Bongo dynasty in August 2023, is Nguema’s presidency a genuine political overhaul or more of the same?
Aug 24, 2025
Photo illustration by Dami Mojid / THE REPUBLIC. Source Ref 1: Swearing-in ceremony of President Brice Nguema, Libreville, 2025. PAUL KAGAME / FLICKR. Ref 2: Omar and Ali Bongo. / EU, FOREIGN OFFICE.
On the evening of 30 August 2023, Ali Bongo, Gabon’s outgoing president and former presidential candidate in the 26 August 2023 general election, was deposed and placed under house arrest by the Committee for the Transition and Restoration of Institutions (Comité pour la Transition et la Restauration des Institutions; CTRI) following the release of seemingly fraudulent results by the elections council. The fall of Ali Bongo marked a seminal turning point in Gabon’s history—ending a long dynastic reign by father and son.
President Brice Oligui Nguema has since swooped in as the country’s new strongman, vowing to rehabilitate the dignity of the Gabonese people and restore the institutional integrity of the Republic, perceived by most as having been undermined by the authoritarian tendencies of the former regime. The Gabonese—hostile to the ideology of the formerly dominant Gabonese Democratic Party (Parti Démocratique Gabonais; PDG)—had accordingly called for its dissolution en masse. But while the final report from the Inclusive National Dialogue of April 2024 recommended its immediate suspension and the ineligibility of its cadres for post-transition elections, Nguema balks. Instead, Nguema appears to be working to re-legitimize the party by appointing several executives from the fallen regime to important positions in the politico-administrative apparatus. This policy, contrasting a priori with the aspirations of many Gabonese, is nevertheless part of the new president’s agenda and policy of inclusion that he has been advocating for since taking power. But his proximity to the former regime raises questions. Is Nguema’s presidency really a political break or is it rather a restyled continuation of the Bongos?
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About the Author
holds a doctorate in political science and is an associate researcher at the Multidisciplinary and Comparative Laboratory 'Africas in the World' at Sciences Po Bordeaux. He is also a permanent lecturer and researcher at the International University of Libreville in Gabon. His research focuses primarily on political dynamics in Africa, political parties, electoral processes, and the financing of political life, with a focus on Gabon and Togo. In addition to his teaching and research activities, he analyzes current African political events for international media outlets such as RFI, Jeune Afrique, BBC, and Voice America. For the past year, he has been working with the London-based consulting firm Control Risks.
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