Gabon Archives - The African Mirror

Mar

2023

Gabon transport minister resigns in wake of ferry accident

GABON'S transport minister stepped down, the presidency said, one week after more than 20 people were killed in a ferry accident that sparked outrage across the West African nation. The presidency's statement did not say why Brice Paillat handed in his notice. But it followed widespread calls for his resignation over the sinking of the Esther Miracle ferry close to the coastal village of Nyonie on March 9. The boat was carrying 161 passengers from Libreville to Port-Gentil, although there are unconfirmed reports more people were on board and that it was overloaded with merchandise. The government has not responded…

Mar

2023

By The African Mirror

Gabon ferry tragedy: 31 missing

NEWS

GABONESE authorities were searching on Monday for 31 people still missing after a ferry sank last week just off the coast of the central African country, killing six people. The Esther Miracle ferry was carrying 161 passengers from Libreville to Port-Gentil when it sank on March 9 close to the coastal village of Nyonie. "We have not stopped the search operations, we have continued them since the first day. As we speak, a boat is at the area with diving teams which are locating the shipwreck," Gabon's Prime Minister Alain-Claude Bilie By Nze told state broadcaster Gabon 1ere on Sunday.…

Mar

2023

By The African Mirror

Côte d’Ivoire and Gabon lead Africa in closing labour gender gaps

NEWS

CONRAD ONYANGO, BIRD STORY AGENCY CÔTE d'Ivoire and Gabon are inching closer to being the first African countries to grant women full equal opportunities in their labour markets. Theirs are the only economies on the continent to have scored above 90 in the World Bank's Women, Business and the Law Index, which evaluates a range of laws affecting women's access to economic opportunities, across 190 countries. The lifting of restrictions on hiring women in Côte d'Ivoire is among major gender reforms that have increased that country's overall score to 95, according to the report. Other gender-related reforms enacted by Cote…

Feb

2023

By The African Mirror

Gabon president proposes cutting presidential mandate to five years

NEWS

GABON President Ali Bongo proposed shortening the presidential mandate from seven to five years as he began consultations to prepare for elections this year and measures to prevent violence. More than two days of deadly unrest followed Gabon's last elections in 2016 after the opposition rejected Ali Bongo's victory and alleged fraud. "On the eve of future general elections, I have today decided to set the term of office for all elections to five years," Bongo said on Monday. The move will require constitutional reform and a vote in parliament. Sixty-four-year-old Bongo has been president of the oil-producing West African…

Jan

2023

By The African Mirror

Gabon’s foreign minister dies of heart attack

NEWS

GABON'S Foreign Minister Michael Moussa Adamo died of a heart attack, President Ali Bongo said in a statement. Three government sources said that he was in a council of ministers meeting when he suffered the cardiac attack. He was rushed to the hospital and died shortly after midday despite specialist treatment, said a government statement. "He was a very great diplomat, a true statesman. For me, he was, first of all, a friend, loyal and faithful, whom I could always count on," said Bongo on Twitter. Thomson Reuters Foundation

Jan

2023

By The African Mirror

Gabon names vice-president and new prime minister

NEWS

GABON'S President Ali Bongo appointed the country's first female Prime Minister Rose Christiane Ossouka Raponda to the role of vice-president and named a new PM to replace her, his secretary general said. Ossouka Raponda, 59, was appointed in July 2020 after her predecessor stepped down. She was defence minister before that. She had to navigate a delicate political scene as prime minister after a coup attempt in 2019 while Bongo was on prolonged medical leave following a stroke. Former minister Alain-Claude Bilie By Nze will replace Ossouka Raponda and form a new government, Bongo's secretary general Jean-Yves Teale said in…

Jul

2021

By The African Mirror

African first: Gabon paid to protect tropical forests

ENVIRONMENT

SETH ONYANGO GABON has become the first African state to receive payment for protecting its forests, in what could further incentivise other forested nations to double up on conservation efforts Dense, deep and almost impenetrable, the tropical forests of the Central African region – dubbed the "second lungs of the world" − extend over 200 million hectares. It is vast and darkly foreboding and defines life for some of the planet’s rarest and most endangered plants and animals. However, decades of illegal logging and unsustainable farming is shrinking forest cover in key forested countries like the Central African Republic, Democratic…

Jun

2021

By The African Mirror

Gabon, Ghana elected to U.N. Security Council

NEWS

THE U.N. General Assembly elected Albania, Brazil, Gabon, Ghana, and the United Arab Emirates to the United Nations Security Council for a two-year term starting on January 1, 2022. All five countries ran unopposed for a spot on the 15-member body, which is charged with maintaining international peace and security. They will replace Estonia, Niger, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Tunisia and Vietnam. To ensure geographical representation, seats are allocated to regional groups. But even if candidates are running unopposed in their group, they still need to win the support of more than two-thirds of the U.N. General Assembly. Ghana…

Mar

2021

By The African Mirror

Gabon’s progressive pro-women laws

NEWS

GABON’S government has proposed new laws to promote gender equality and loosen restrictions on abortion, Prime Minister Rose Christiane Raponda has announced. Parliament is expected to vote during its current session to allow divorce by mutual consent and to eliminate requirements that women obey their husbands and notify them when they open a bank account, Raponda told Reuters in an interview. "The legal changes aim to tackle the issues of violence and discrimination that women face in out society," said Raponda, who became the Central African nation's first female prime minister last year. The U.S. State Department said in 2019…

Feb

2021

By The African Mirror

Fruit famine is causing elephants to go hungry in Gabon

ENVIRONMENT

THE behaviour and life cycles of the largest animals on the planet are incredibly important for the healthy functioning of our planet’s life support systems. Unfortunately, many big species now face extinction due to their value in the illegal wildlife trade, vulnerability to habitat degradation and because they often come into conflict with humans. EMMA BUSH, Scientist, Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh (RBGE) KATHARINE ABERNETHY, Professor, University of Stirling ROBIN WHYTOCK, Post Doctoral Research Fellow, University of Stirling The African tropics host many of these remaining megafauna or large animals like gorillas, elephants and hippos, but they are now losing ground.…