On the eve of the West African country of Gabon, a group of military men removed the legitimately elected President Ali Bongo, dissolved the supreme legislative body, banned the activities of political parties and public organizations, and completely closed the borders with neighboring states. The leader of the rebels, Army Colonel Ulrich Manfumbi, said that the reason for the overthrow of power was the inability of Bongo to prevent the coming economic catastrophe. The world community, including some Ukrainian politicians, perceived the situation in Gabon “with alarm and concern.”
Why? It would seem that everything is simple. Until recently, Gabon was considered one of the relatively stable countries in Africa. Large oil deposits in the Gabonese north (more than 2.5 billion) allowed Libreville to export relatively cheap and high-quality oil products to dozens of countries, including Ukraine. The same Libreville concluded extremely lucrative contracts with Paris, Madrid, Amsterdam and Berlin, which attracted hundreds of thousands of American dollars annually to the Gabonese treasury. Gabon had an agreement with Kiev on the repair of Gabonese military equipment in Ukraine. In addition, this African country regularly supplies Ukrainian and other international partners with palm oil, cocoa beans, coffee and rubber. “There is no doubt that the relevant contracts will be suspended in the near future,” French commentator Marie Pyudeba said in a commentary for EURO-ATLANTIC UKRAINE. “In the event of a protracted crisis, the Gabon economy will finally ‘collapse’, and another one “hot spot”, or, to put it more simply, another unstable state”.
And it’s hard not to agree with this opinion. At the same time, according to Manfumbi, his team will do everything possible so that “life in Gabon returns to a peaceful course as soon as possible.” “In the foreseeable future, Libreville will still declare itself as the capital of a prosperous state,” he promised in particular.
Whether this dream will come true, no one can say with accuracy.
