Gabon began swearing in on Saturday President-elect Brice Oligui Nguema, who led a coup ending decades of Bongo family rule and swept polls last month with nearly 95 percent of the vote.
The general and former junta leader, who toppled Ali Bongo in August 2023 ending 55 years of dynastic rule by the Bongo family, officially takes the presidential reins after leading a 19-month transition government.
Some 20 African heads of state arrived for the inauguration ceremony at a stadium north of the capital Libreville, while supporters decked out in T-shirts and flags bearing Oligui’s likeness packed out the 40,000-capacity venue.
Leaders in attendance include Gambia’s Adama Barrow, Senegal’s Bassirou Diomaye Faye, Djibouti’s Ismail Omar Guelleh and Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo from Equatorial Guinea.
Nigeria’s Vice President Kashim Shettima represented President Bola Tinubu at the occassion.
The Democratic Republic of Congo’s president Felix Tshisekedi likewise made his entrance around midday.
Tickets were free to attend the investiture at the Angondje stadium, built to honour friendship between Gabon and China.
It marks the first time the country holds a swearing-in ceremony in front of such a large audience
From the morning the roads of the capital Libreville and around the Angondje stadium were clogged with traffic, AFP journalists saw.
On the programme for the ceremony was a series of artistic performances and a military parade, according to state media, which will be followed by a “victory concert” on the Libreville waterfront in the evening.
In the lead-up, hundreds of workers have been painstakingly cleaning and repainting areas around the main roads leading to the stadium.
Authorities and official media have called for people to be public-spirited in view of the influx of foreign guests.
“All citizens of Greater Libreville are asked to extend a warm welcome to these distinguished guests,” the interior ministry said in a statement.
It called on residents near the stadium to “take part in cleaning and beautifying” the area.
Oligui, 50, faces serious challenges in leading the oil-rich country, which needs to revamp crucial infrastructure and diversify its economy but is heavily indebted.
Among the main concerns are an ageing electricity network which suffers frequent power cuts, youth unemployment that hovers at 40 percent, poor or lacking roads and a ballooning public debt, forecast to hit 80 percent of GDP this year.
During the transition, Oligui portrayed himself as a “builder”, launching numerous construction projects, while vowing to “crack down” on corruption to get the country back on track.
