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Article: BGFIBank / Delta Synergie: racket disguised as reform, or continuation of the purge?

Gabon 2025
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BGFIBank / Delta Synergie: racket disguised as reform, or continuation of the purge?

Gabon under Oligui: between political purge and economic scandals, the takeover strategy of BGFIBank arouses incomprehension and anger.

Gabon is clearly not done being shaken by affairs where political intrigues and economic interests mingle in a thick fog of scandals. The latest episode to date: the takeover of BGFIBank, where the direct involvement of Oligui Nguema and his entourage sheds a disturbing light on the opaque functioning of the transition. An exchange of "shares" for tax advantages and the abandonment of prosecutions? We are not far from institutionalized racketeering.

Delta Synergy: from power to forced abandonment?

The first bombshell in this saga comes from Delta Synergie, a conglomerate linked to the Bongo family that holds a substantial share of BGFIBank's capital. Under pressure from General-President Oligui, these shares would be transferred in exchange for judicial immunity and a very generous tax credit. In short: give up your shares, we forget everything, and as a bonus, you are exempt from taxes. This "deal" is as surprising as it is scandalous, as it seems to be built on foundations that defy all legal and moral logic.

What should we think of a State that offers to wash away the financial sins of a private conglomerate in exchange for its strategic assets? This maneuver, which looks more like a hostage-taking than an economic reform, makes people grind their teeth. If Delta Synergie was indeed guilty of embezzlement, how can we justify offering it such an escape route? And if it was not, why this indecent pressure for it to sell its shares?

BGFIBank, the strategic challenge of all appetites

At the heart of the affair is BGFIBank, a banking giant and the backbone of the Gabonese economy. The objective of this operation is clear: to take control of the institution to make it a lever of economic and political power. And in this showdown, Henri-Claude Oyima, CEO of the bank and strongman of the financial sector, finds himself in the crosshairs.

The Oligui regime seems determined to continue its boundless appetite, and Oyima is paying the price. After surviving several internal purges, he is now accused of being the lock to be removed to open the floodgates of total control. But the method is intriguing: what is the point of taking BGFIBank if it is to inject confusion and distrust among international investors? Is Gabon playing a game here where it risks losing more than it gains?

Institutionalized racketeering: the reign of arbitrariness

What is shocking in this case is the absolute arbitrariness with which Oligui, through his henchman Duro, seems to conduct his business. After having liquidated the old regime through arrests and political purges, the method is now being exported to the economic domain. This is felt all the more since Hervé Patrick Opiangah is currently wanted throughout the country.

Offering exorbitant tax advantages to a company like Delta Synergie, under the pretext of recovering its shares in BGFIBank, amounts to sending a clear signal to all investors: Gabon is a jungle where the law is written according to the interests of the moment. And this, in disregard of the consequences on the national economy.

This strategy of governance through chaos only serves to further isolate the country on the international stage. Will the major financial institutions continue to watch this dangerous game without reacting? What is at stake here goes beyond the simple framework of a transfer of shares: it is the very image of Gabon as a land of investment that is collapsing.

By attacking Delta Synergie and BGFIBank, Oligui Nguema continues his work of deconstructing the old regime, but this time, by pushing the State into dangerous grey areas. What could have been an economic clean-up operation is increasingly looking like an attempt at personal control over the country's resources.

How far will this reign of arbitrariness go? One thing is certain: it is not by racketeering the key players in its economy that Gabon will find the path to stability and prosperity.

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