“We need some reassurances,” Gabon’s business leaders said the day after the coup d’état. The junta did not waste time. After receiving more than 200 Gabonese business leaders on the afternoon of 31 August, the coup leaders issued a statement saying that it was business as usual in the West African state.
“We call on all ministerial offices and heads of government departments to resume work … and we wish to reassure all donors and development partners, as well as the state’s creditors, that all measures will be taken to guarantee our country’s external and internal commitments,” said a military spokesperson from the presidential palace.
Unfavourable context
The speech provoked mixed reactions in Libreville.
“It’s premature to say that everything is going well,” says Jean-Claude Ngoma, who runs the Pélisson brasserie in the centre of the capital and the Moulin restaurant in Okala, north of Libreville.
“The elections led to a drop in business of at least 30%,” he adds.
The Fédération des Entreprises du Gabon (FEG) has presented a set of proposals to the country’s new strongmen – identical to the ones it put forward to President Ali Bongo a few months earlier.
No action has yet been taken on these proposals. While the coup may initially have been a cause for concern for Gabonese businesses, economic activity already seems to be returning to normal.
One example is Eramet, a French multinational company specialising in manganese extraction in Mouanda, which halted its activities but resumed them the next day.
Political operation
Jean Gaspard Ntoutoume Ayi, an economist and opposition candidate for mayor of Akanda, expressed doubts.
“How can they guarantee their commitment when they don’t even have a minister of the economy yet? For the opposition, which claims Ali Bongo Ondima’s family members were linked to the coup in Gabon, the meeting with Gabon’s employers is nothing more than a political operation,” he says.
“The coup plotters received the FEG, chaired by CEO of BGFIBank Henri-Claude Oyima, who is also [coup leader] General Oligui Nguema’s cousin.”
The meeting could also be seen as a way of endorsing the new authorities, another source says.
“By attending, the business leaders have sent the message that they support the government, which has not yet been officially installed,” says a member of the opposition, Union Nationale.
