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Gabon
Bilateral cooperation accords negotiated by conservative political elites.
- Independence
- August 17, 1960
- Before
- French Gabon
- Metropole
- France
- Leader
- Léon M'ba
- Transition
- Negotiated
- Movement
- Bloc Démocratique Gabonais (BDG)
“Every Gabonese has two homelands: Gabon and France. (Tout Gabonais a deux patries : le Gabon et la France.)”
— Léon M'ba, 1961
From Coastal Treaties to Colony
France's presence in Gabon began with treaties with Mpongwe rulers on the Gabon estuary from 1839. Libreville was founded in 1849 with freed captives from a slave ship. Expeditions led by Brazza from 1875 pushed into the interior, and Gabon was incorporated into French Equatorial Africa in 1910. The colonial economy rested on timber, above all okoumé, worked with heavy labour demands. Manganese, uranium and oil later made Gabon one of France's most valuable territories.
M'ba and the BDG
Léon M'ba, a canton chief and scholar of Fang customary law, was convicted by the colonial authorities in 1931 and exiled to Ubangi-Shari until 1946. On his return he entered politics. In 1954 he joined the Bloc Démocratique Gabonais, formed the previous year and led by Paul Gondjout, and became its leading figure. He was elected mayor of Libreville in 1956 and headed the Loi Cadre government from 1957. His main rival was Jean-Hilaire Aubame of the Union Démocratique et Sociale Gabonaise.
Independence Within Close Ties
Gabon voted 'Yes' in the 1958 referendum on the French Community and became an autonomous republic. In November 1959 M'ba declared for Gabon becoming a French overseas department, but de Gaulle's adviser Jacques Foccart told him the idea was unthinkable. Independence was proclaimed on 17 August 1960. Agreements on Gabon's continued participation in the French Community and on cooperation, including defence, were signed with France in Libreville the same day. M'ba, head of government since 1957, was elected president on 12 February 1961 under a new constitution.
Chronology
- 1839 — First French treaty on the Gabon estuary
- 1849 — Libreville founded
- September 28, 1958 — Gabon votes 'Yes' in the French Community referendum
- August 17, 1960 — Independence; Franco-Gabonese cooperation agreements signed
- February 12, 1961 — Léon M'ba becomes president
- February 17–19, 1964 — Military coup reversed by French troops
- November 28, 1967 — M'ba dies; Albert-Bernard (later Omar) Bongo succeeds him
Aftermath
The French intervention of February 1964, which restored M'ba under the 1960 defence agreement, became a defining example of 'Françafrique'. Omar Bongo ruled from 1967 until his death in June 2009. His son Ali Bongo succeeded him and was overthrown by the military on 30 August 2023.
Legacy
France's military rescue of Léon M'ba in 1964 established Gabon as a model of close post-colonial dependence on France. The Bongo family then ruled for 56 years, protecting French economic interests while concentrating oil wealth among the elite.