On 24 November the Banque Gabonnaise et Française Internationale's (BGFI) international holding company in which the family of Gabonese President Ali Bongo has a stake of at least 11% published its first reaction (AC 19/11/21 The bank at the heart of the scandal & AC Vol 62 No 13 A fox guarding the hen house)...

The BGFI 11% of which belongs to the family of Gabon's President Ali Bongo grew out of the now-defunct French Intercontinental Bank (Fiba) which was at the centre of one of the biggest corruption cases of the 20th century the Elf scandal in France (AC Vol 48 No 6 Financial secrecy)...

BGFI was a creation of two presidents: Omar Bongo of Gabon – who died in 2009 his son Ali Ben Bongo taking his place – and Denis Sassou-Nguesso of neighbouring Congo-B...

Of that 51% stake just over 15% was owned by the president personally and a further 19% by three of his children – including Ali Bongo who succeeded his father as president – according to Stephen Smith and Antoine Glaser's landmark book on France's post-colonial African networks Ces Messieurs Afrique...

While President Nicolas Sarkozy instigated a post-genocide rapprochement with Rwanda in 2010 he hardly hid his sympathy for old françafrique allies such as Ali Bongo Ondimba in Gabon and he stuck to the traditional positive portrayal of colonial rule in Algeria...

While President Nicolas Sarkozy instigated a post-genocide rapprochement with Rwanda in 2010 he hardly hid his sympathy for old françafrique allies such as Ali Bongo Ondimba in Gabon and he stuck to the traditional positive portrayal of colonial rule in Algeria...

These include Congo-Brazzaville's Denis Sassou-Nguesso Kenya's Uhuru Kenyatta and Gabon's Ali Ben Bongo...

Raponda has moved rapidly to install women in 11 of the 33 ministerial posts – but the big jobs remain with regime stalwarts mostly unchanged and mostly longstanding close colleagues of President Ali Bongo Ondimba: such as Interior Minister Lambert Noël Matha and Oil Minister Vincent de Paul Massassa (AC Vol 60 No 25 The son also rises)...

Raponda has moved rapidly to install women in 11 of the 33 ministerial posts – but the big jobs remain with regime stalwarts mostly unchanged and mostly longstanding close colleagues of President Ali Bongo Ondimba: such as Interior Minister Lambert Noël Matha and Oil Minister Vincent de Paul Massassa (AC Vol 60 No 25 The son also rises)...

The choice of Raponda is shrewd: she is close to Ali Bongo's mother Patience Dabany and the ruling family's inner coterie who have long dominated the management of power – but she is also a credible younger generation technocrat...

President Ali Bongo Ondimba is trying to reassert his authority after months of recuperation following a stroke in November 2018...

President Ali Bongo Ondimba is trying to reassert his authority after months of recuperation following a stroke in November 2018...

With the installation of his son Noureddin Bongo-Valentin as the 'general coordinator of presidential affairs' recuperating stroke victim President Ali Bongo Ondimba – or those acting for him – has reasserted the Bongo clan's hold on power...

With the installation of his son Noureddin Bongo-Valentin as the 'general coordinator of presidential affairs' recuperating stroke victim President Ali Bongo Ondimba – or those acting for him – has reasserted the Bongo clan's hold on power...

Ali's returnA handful of mutinous soldiers seized national television stations for a few hours on 7 January 2019 prompting the slowly recovering Ali Bongo to return fleetingly but symbolically to Libreville from treatment in Morocco to attend the swearing-in of a new government...

The role of gatekeeper and trusted advisor may be a training ground for a presidential run when Ali Bongo completes his term in 2023 opposition groups say...

Politics was to the fore during his first trip abroad this year: M6 was in his residence at Ekwata beach Libreville during the 7 January failed coup against President Ali Bongo Ondimba while a Moroccan frigate stood offshore...

Politics was to the fore during his first trip abroad this year: M6 was in his residence at Ekwata beach Libreville during the 7 January failed coup against President Ali Bongo Ondimba while a Moroccan frigate stood offshore...