Stability To Support Local Debt

As Gabon moves towards presidential elections in December, it seems fairly unlikely that we will see anything other than a continuation of the status quo. Although a number of reforms in the 1990s opened up the system to some extent - President Omar Bongo won the 1998 polls with a comparatively low 66.6% of the vote - his financial and political patronage network is widespread, and few expect to see a successful challenge. What little chance the opposition Gabonese Progressive Party (GPG) had of making gains was heavily undermined by the death of its leader, Pierre-Louis Agondjo Okawé, in August.

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