Gabon’s president-elect, General Brice Oligui Nguema, will be sworn into office on Saturday after securing nearly 95 percent of the vote in last month’s presidential election. His inauguration marks the official transition from military to civilian rule, following his August 2023 coup that ended 55 years of Bongo family dominance.
Nguema, who led a 19-month transitional government after deposing former president Ali Bongo, is set to take his oath at the 40,000-seat Angondje Stadium near Libreville. The stadium, built to symbolize Gabon-China friendship, will host the country’s first-ever large-scale swearing-in ceremony.
Several African leaders are expected to attend the ceremony, including Nigeria’s Vice President, Kashim Shettima, Senegal’s President Bassirou Diomaye Faye, Gambia’s Adama Barrow, Djibouti’s Ismail Omar Guelleh, and Equatorial Guinea’s Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo. Presidents Félix Tshisekedi of the Democratic Republic of Congo and Rwanda’s Paul Kagame are also slated to attend, despite ongoing regional tensions.
The inauguration will feature military parades, cultural performances, and a “victory concert” on the Libreville waterfront later in the evening. In preparation, public workers have been beautifying the capital, with authorities urging residents near the stadium to help clean and welcome international guests.
At 50, Nguema now faces the challenge of transforming Gabon’s oil-reliant economy, battling high youth unemployment, modernizing aging infrastructure, and addressing a public debt expected to reach 80 percent of GDP this year. During his interim leadership, he launched multiple construction projects and promised to fight corruption as part of his national reform agenda.
