Brice Oligui Nguema Wins Gabon Presidency with 90.35% of Vote

Gabon’s interior minister announced that Brice Oligui Nguema, who seized power in a coup in August 2023, won the presidential election held on Saturday with 90.35% of the vote, based on provisional results released Sunday.

This landslide victory further consolidates Nguema’s grip on leadership, 19 months after the military ousted the Bongo family, ending their five-decade reign over the oil-rich Central African nation of 2.5 million people.

In the eight-candidate race, Nguema’s primary challenger was Alain Claude Bilie By Nze, a former prime minister under ousted President Ali Bongo. According to the results, Nze secured just 3.02% of the votes.

Nguema, seen wearing a baseball cap bearing his “We Build Together” campaign slogan, positioned himself as a reformist ready to take on corruption linked to the previous regime.

He promised to reduce Gabon’s heavy dependence on oil and boost sectors like agriculture, tourism, and industry. Currently, about one-third of Gabon’s population lives below the poverty line.

The voter turnout stood at 70.40%, a significant increase from the 56.65% recorded in the August 2023 election that preceded the coup.

That earlier election had declared Bongo the winner of a third term, but widespread allegations of fraud surrounded the outcome. The military took control shortly after the results were made public.

With $3 billion in outstanding international bonds, global investors have been closely monitoring Gabon’s political trajectory to gauge whether the country would regain democratic legitimacy through transparent elections.

“Prolonged political uncertainty and fears of extended military rule have constrained Gabon’s economic growth, exacerbating the country’s budget deficit and debt levels,” said Mucahid Durmaz, senior Africa analyst at risk intelligence firm Verisk Maplecroft.

“A democratically elected government with a clear mandate will be better positioned to engage with multilateral partners and to pursue fiscal reforms and debt restructuring, which are essential to establishing macroeconomic stability.”

The World Bank reported that Gabon’s economy grew by 2.9% in 2024, up from 2.4% the previous year, driven by increased infrastructure projects and a rise in production of oil, manganese, and timber.

Nguema’s win earns him a seven-year term, renewable once, as per the new constitution ratified in November.

Although he vowed to break from the legacy of the Bongo regime, which faced criticism for concentrating the country’s oil wealth among elites, Nguema has ties to the previous government. He formerly served as an aide-de-camp to Omar Bongo, Ali Bongo’s father, who ruled Gabon for over 40 years until his death in 2009.