Gabon

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Gabonese junta leader Gen. Brice Clotaire Oligui Nguema won the first round of the country's presidential election on April 12 with 90.35% of the vote, according to provisional results, Radio France Internationale reported on April 13.

Gabon: Junta Leader Nguema Elected President 

Gabon's military leader, Gen. Brice Clotaire Oligui Nguema, announced his candidacy for the April 12 presidential election 18 months after seizing power in a coup that ended the Bongo family's decades-long rule, BBC reported on March 4.

Gabon: Junta Leader Declares Bid for Presidency

Chad

Cote d'Ivoire

Senegal

Ivorian President Alassane Ouattara announced in his New Year's address that France would hand over its Port Bouet military base near Abidjan to the Ivorian military by the end of January, Le Monde reported on Jan. 1.

Cote d'Ivoire: President Ouattara Announces France Will Cede Military Base

Democratic Republic of the Congo

Equatorial Guinea

Nigeria

Venezuela

Algeria

Iran

Iraq

Kuwait

Libya

Saudi Arabia

United Arab Emirates

Russia

Energy

OPEC+ countries agreed to delay the phase-out of 2.2 million barrels of oil per day of production cuts from Jan. 1, 2025, until April 1 and to phase those cuts out over 18 months instead of the originally planned 12 months, Argus Media reported on Dec. 5. 

OPEC+: Members To Delay Boosting Oil Production for Third Time

Saudi Arabia, Russia, the United Arab Emirates and other OPEC+ participants will delay the start of their planned unwinding of 2.2 million barrels per day in voluntary oil production cuts from Dec. 1 to the end of December, OPEC announced in a Nov. 3 press release. 

OPEC+: Unwinding of Voluntary Production Cuts Delayed by One Month

Republic of the Congo

Saudi Arabia, Russia, Iraq, the United Arab Emirates and other oil producers participating in OPEC+'s voluntary 2.2 million barrel per day production cut agreed to delay the cut's phase out from Oct. 1 to Dec. 1, OPEC+ said in a press release published on its website on Sept. 5.

Global: OPEC+ Delays Voluntary Production Cut Phase Out by Two Months

Brazil

OPEC+ may delay a planned 180,000 barrel per day increase in oil production in October, Reuters reported on Sept. 4, citing three OPEC+ sources.

Global: OPEC+ Weighs Delaying Production Increase

France is looking to reduce its total number of troops deployed in Senegal, Cote d'Ivoire, Gabon and Chad from 2,300 to 600 troops, Le Monde reported June 17, citing three French intelligence sources.

France: Country to Reduce Military Presence in Western and Central Africa 

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Benin

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Guinea

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Mali

Mauritania

Niger

Togo

Morocco

A Gabonese brigade participates in a training exercise as part of a military program linked to the Franco-Gabonese partnership at the French military base Camp de Gaulle in Libreville on March 19, 2025. 

France's reduced influence in Africa will create space for local and foreign actors to take on greater leadership roles, but their inability to fill the security vacuum left by France's withdrawal would threaten to destabilize the region.

France, Africa and the Future, Part 2: The Age of Multi-Alignment 

A picture released on July 12, 1963, of then-French President Gen. Charles de Gaulle (2L) and Jacques Foccart (L) greeting African, Malagasy and French overseas territories veterans arriving in Paris for French Bastille Day celebrations.

After decades of cultivating tight-knit relationships with francophone African countries, France has effectively ended its forward military presence in West and Central Africa amid shifting political dynamics in both regions, which will weaken its influence on the continent but enable Paris to reallocate resources towards Europe's security.

France, Africa and the Future, Part 1: A New Balance of Power 

Snapshots

Sub-Saharan Africa

Protesters in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso, wave Russian and Burkinabe flags on Oct. 4, 2022. 

Cyber

Many of the drivers that led to the recent coups in the Sahel are present in other African countries, granting Russian-sponsored influence operations more inroads.

Africa's Instability Creates Fertile Ground for Russian Disinformation

Assessments

People holding Gabon national flags celebrate in Libreville on August 30, 2023, after a group of military officers announced they were ''putting an end'' to President Ali Bongo Ondimba's regime. 

Rampant insecurity could precipitate the collapse of more Sahelian governments, while succession crises and patronage politics could do the same for Central Africa's dynastic leaders.

Assessing the Risk of Future African Coups, Part 1: The Sahel and Central Africa

Media

Podcasts

What circumstances led to Gabon's military coup?

Essential Geopolitics: In the Wake of a Military Coup, What's Next for Gabon?

People hold up Gabon's national flag in the country's capital of Libreville on Aug. 30, 2023, as they celebrate after a group of military officers announced they were ''putting an end to the current regime'' and scrapping official election results that had handed another term to President Ali Bongo Ondimba. 

Unlike its African peers that ousted civilian governments, Gabon's military deposed an unpopular authoritarian regime, which will help limit the domestic and international fallout.

What Sets Gabon's Coup Apart From Africa's Other Recent Coups

Zimbabwe

Guatemala

Australia

China

United Kingdom

New Guatemalan President Bernardo Arevalo (R) and his vice president, Karin Herrera, on Aug. 20 in Guatemala City. In the aftermath of anti-corruption presidential candidate Bernardo Arevalo's Aug. 20 runoff win, the attorney general's office sent a letter Aug. 23 to the president of Congress, Shirley Rivera, requesting the suspension of Arevalo's Seed Movement party in a bid to weaken the president-elect.

A look at what the coming week will bring -- and a list of recommended RANE articles from the week that was.

The Weekly Rundown: Political Uncertainty in Guatemala, a Potential LNG Strike in Australia

The oil-rich African country of Equatorial Guinea said it foiled a coup attempt in late December.

Old Leaders in a New Africa

The oil-rich African nation's longtime president is reportedly ailing, and his jet-setting son is the heir apparent. The country's history of coup attempts means the journey ahead could get bumpy.

Equatorial Guinea Weighs a Dynasty in the Making

Angola

Ecuador

Mexico

Trinidad and Tobago

United States

Bahrain

Qatar

Venezuela's Unraveling

The Libyan Civil War

A Crude Recovery

The newly extended production cut will slowly restore balance to the international oil market. But as the countries participating in the deal get closer to achieving their goals, they will face a different dilemma: how to ease out of it.

To Stabilize the Oil Market, OPEC Refines Its Strategy

Graphics

Gabon's Opposition Is Playing a Dangerous Game

Security

If the protests stoked by the president's rivals turn deadly, it could undermine their support at home and abroad.

The Challenges of Unseating Gabon's Longtime Leader

Even if accusations of election fraud could be proved, the opposition has little power to wield.

The Challenge of Unseating Gabon's Entrenched Leader

Ghana

Guinea Bissau

Rwanda

South Africa

Since the fall of colonialism in Africa, foreign powers have been protecting their interests on the continent one leader at a time.

The Suitors of Sub-Saharan Africa

For countries without colonial interests in Africa, the wave of independence movements offered an opportunity to make inroads in nations outside their traditional spheres of influence. Providing physical security for a leader and his or her family is a particularly useful tool for a country that wants to assert its influence without committing extensive resources.

The Devious Art of Securing Influence in Africa

SITUATION REPORTS

Gabon: Junta Leader Nguema Elected President

Gabon: Junta Leader Declares Bid for Presidency

Cote d'Ivoire: President Ouattara Announces France Will Cede Military Base

OPEC+: Members To Delay Boosting Oil Production for Third Time

OPEC+: Unwinding of Voluntary Production Cuts Delayed by One Month

Global: OPEC+ Delays Voluntary Production Cut Phase Out by Two Months

Global: OPEC+ Weighs Delaying Production Increase

France: Country to Reduce Military Presence in Western and Central Africa

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