France welcomes Gabon's Oligui as mineral and military ties defy wider rift in Africa
Oligui Nguema, on his second official visit to France, will be joined by an 80-strong delegation of business chiefs and political officials.
Gabon presidency spokesperson Théophane Nzame-Nze Biyoghe told reporters that the trip "will be an opportunity for the two heads of state... to follow up on the agreements signed in Libreville last November".
The visit marks another step in Oligui's rehabilitation after he seized power in an August 2023 coup that ended more than five decades of rule by the Bongo family. He was elected president in April 2025 after winning nearly 95 percent of votes.
"The sky has been cloudless between Libreville and Paris since the coup," political scientist Bergès Mietté of the International University of Libreville told RFI. "This visit confirms the idea that everything is going very well between the two states."
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'Path of continuity'
Oligui visited Paris in May 2024 while serving as transitional president, before French President Emmanuel Macron travelled to Libreville in November 2025 to mark the end of the transition.
Mietté said granting Oligui a state visit reflects French acceptance of Gabon's post-coup political order.
French influence is waning in Francophone Africa, particularly in the Sahel region where the military-led governments of Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger have broken with Paris.
Gabon, however, has maintained close ties with its former colonial power.
"Since the coup, without any prior rupture, Gabon has clearly chosen a path of continuity with France," Mietté said. President Macron (centre) stands next to Gabon's Oligui Nguema (left) and a host of African leaders during the Africa Forward summit in Nairobi on 11 May, 2026.
Minerals and military
Beyond the formalities and a meeting with the Gabonese diaspora in France, talks will focus on the local processing of manganese, which is used in steel manufacturing.
Gabon is one of the world's biggest producers and announced last year that it wanted to ban the export of raw manganese from 2029 and develop a local processing industry, including manganese mined by French group Eramet.
Libreville is also keen to secure support for the modernisation of the 700-kilometre Transgabon railway, which carries much of the country's exports.
"The railway and mining sectors are among the three main issues of the visit," Mietté said. "To finance this major modernisation project, Gabon needs foreign investment."
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A new defence agreement could also be signed after France reorganised its military presence in Gabon, reducing troop numbers at its military base in Libreville from more than 1,000 to around 100 soldiers, as part of an army restructuring.
Gabon is expected to take over the land, which it intends to use for training defence and security forces.
The Elysee said it was "ready to respond to the priorities and objectives set out by Gabon".
Concerns have grown over repression in Gabon. Social networks have been cut off since 17 February, while the country's main opposition leader and former prime minister has been in jail since April over fraud and breach of trust allegations.
A UN report in April highlighted concerns over the standard of healthcare in prisons, and on ritualistic crimes and abuse "which amounted to cruel and inhumane treatment".
(With newswires)