With this change, Gabon will be able to continue obtaining project-related loans and grants.
The new military authorities declared on Friday that the financial sanctions against Gabon, which were imposed after President Ali Bongo was overthrown in a coup in August, have been lifted by the African Development Bank (AfDB).
The Gabonese Economy Ministry said in a statement on X (previously Twitter) that the decision was made at the beginning of the week after fruitful conversations with the AfDB, “marking a major turning point in restoring trust with the multinational financial institution.”
“I applaud the removal of the AfDB sanctions against Gabon and the start of payments in support of the several projects. Minister of Economy Mays Mouissi remarked, “This decision rewards weeks of work in order to calm relations between Gabon and its donors.”
The minister reported that in October, separate rounds of discussions were undertaken in Morocco and the Republic of Congo between senior AfDB officials and the temporary Gabonese government.
According to Mouissi, the coup leaders also paid off Gabon’s obligations to the continental financial group at the end of the previous month, which helped to rebuild trust and ease the lifting of sanctions.
Since the revolution, the AfDB is the first foreign organisation to remove its punitive sanctions against Gabon, enabling the Central African nation to keep getting grants and loans for its initiatives.
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On August 30, a coup headed by Gabonese troops ended Bongo’s bid for a third term in office. The deposed leader had held the office for two terms starting in 2009, when his father, Omar Bongo, who had governed Gabon for over 40 years, passed away.
In reaction to the military takeover, the former French colony was suspended from the Economic Community of Central African States and the African Union’s Peace and Security Council.
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The United States has also stopped providing foreign aid to the military rulers of Gabon, having only determined late last month that the takeover was a “coup d’état.”
Two weeks ago, President Joe Biden declared that Gabon and three of its neighbours, including Niger, would no longer be eligible for duty-free access to the US market through the African Growth and Opportunity Act trade programme.
Both Gabon and Niger, another former French colony overthrown by the military in July, according to Biden, have not consistently advanced the defence of democratic pluralism and the rule of law.
In the meantime, France severed relations with the leaders of the coup in Niger and declared in September that military operations in Gabon would resume after being postponed.
