On August 30, senior military officers of the Republican Guard seized power and placed Gabonese President Ali Bongo Ondimba under house arrest (source). As a result of the coup, senior military officers appointed General Brice Oligui Nguema as chairman of a transitional government (source).
Whilst there have been numerous failed coup attempts in Gabon, including in 2019, this has been the first successful one. (source) (source) Moreover, the incident represents a broader trend of recent successful military-led coups within Francophone countries in Africa (source). They include the following:
- Niger coup on July 26 2023 (source)
- Burkina Faso on January 23 to 24 2022 (source)
- Burkina Faso on September 30 2022 (source)
- Mali on 18 August 2020 (source)
- Mali on 24 May 2021. (source)