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The Biden Administration suspended most non-humanitarian aid to Gabon after a military takeover in the country last month.
The Biden Administration suspended most non-humanitarian aid to Gabon after a military takeover in the country last month. Secretary of State Antony Blinken announced a pause in certain foreign assistance programs to Gabon, pending a review of the circumstances that led to the ouster of the country’s former leader President Ali Bongo Ondimba.
Blinken said in a statement that the suspension would not affect U.S. government operations in the oil-rich central African nation. The statement did not elaborate on what U.S.-funded programs would be affected or how much money would be placed on hold.
Gabon is the second country to have seen a military takeover following the overthrow of the government in Niger earlier this year. The U.S. also suspended some aid to Niger but has yet to formally determine if what happened was a coup. The U.S. government’s operational activities in Gabon, including diplomatic and consular operations supporting U.S. citizens will continue.
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Bongo had served two terms since coming to power in 2009 after the death of his father, who ruled the country for 41 years, and there was widespread discontent with his family’s reign. Another group of mutinous soldiers attempted a coup in 2019 but was quickly overpowered. The former French colony is a member of OPEC, but its oil wealth is concentrated in the hands of a few — and nearly 40% of Gabonese aged 15 to 24 were out of work in 2020, according to the World Bank. Its oil export revenue was US$6 billion in 2022, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration.
