NEWS 24
France is following events in Gabon “with the greatest attention”, Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne said on Wednesday after army officers in the West African country announced they had deposed President Ali Bongo.
Borne’s comment was the first reaction from France, the former colonial power in Gabon whose influence in Africa is seen as being undermined by a series of recent coups that have toppled friendly governments.
Speaking to ambassadors in Paris, Borne said French diplomats had had to contend with a series of crises, from war-ravaged Ukraine and Sudan to coup-hit Niger “and now the situation in Gabon which we are following with the greatest attention.”
On Monday, President Emmanuel Macron denounced what he called an “epidemic” of coups in recent years in French-speaking Africa, from Mali and Burkina Faso to Guinea and most recently Niger.
Paris maintains a military presence in many of its former colonial territories, including Gabon where it has 370 soldiers permanently deployed, some in the capital Libreville, according to the French defence ministry website.
Bongo’s father Omar was one of France’s closest allies in the immediate post-colonial era and Ali has long been a regular in Paris, where his family owns an extensive real estate portfolio that is being investigated by anti-corruption magistrates.
Macron visited Gabon in March for a forestry summit in a move that was interpreted by some opposition figures as being an endorsement for Bongo ahead of disputed presidential elections which were held on Saturday.
During a speech in Libreville at the time, Macron denied any French ambitions to interfere in Africa, saying that the age of meddling was “well over.”
France intervened militarily to beat back advancing Islamic extremists in Mali in 2013 at the request of the country’s then-government.
Following a coup in Niger last month, Macron has refused to recognise the military regime and has promised to back West African regional bloc ECOWAS, some of whose members support military action against the putsch leaders.
Once the undisputed foreign power in West Africa, France’s influence has been in long-term decline due to competition from China and most recently Russia…
