Nguema, the leader of Gabon, was elected president with 90.35% of the vote, according to the interior ministry

Provisional results from Saturday’s presidential election showed that Brice Oligui Nguema, who led a coup in Gabon in August 2023, received 90.35% of the vote, the interior minister of the Central African nation announced on Sunday.

19 months after the coup terminated the Bongo family’s more than 50 years of leadership over Gabon, an oil-producing country of over 2.5 million people, the outcome solidifies Nguema’s hold on power.

In the eight-candidate campaign, Nguema’s most notable rival was Alain Claude Bilie By Nze, who at the time of the coup was President Ali Bongo’s prime minister.

The preliminary results revealed that Nze, 57, ended with 3.02% of the total.

Wearing a baseball cap with the phrase “We Build Together” on it, Nguema ran on a platform of upending the corrupt establishment.

With a third of the population living in poverty, he pledged to diversify the oil-dependent economy and support industry, tourism, and agriculture.

In contrast to the 56.65% who voted in the August 2023 election that sparked the coup, the interior ministry reports that the turnout was 70.40%.

The opposition condemned the process as fraudulent, but Bongo was declared the winner of that battle for what would have been his third term.

Shortly after the results were declared, the coup took place.

With $3 billion in outstanding foreign bonds, investors were waiting to see if Gabon would have a credible election and regain its democratic credentials.

“Gabon’s economic growth has been hindered by prolonged political unpredictability and concerns about prolonged military rule, which has increased the country’s debt levels and budget deficit,” stated Mucahid Durmaz, senior Africa analyst at risk intelligence firm Verisk Maplecroft.

“A democratically elected government with a clear mandate will be better positioned to engage with multilateral partners and to pursue fiscal reforms and debt restructuring, which are essential to establishing macroeconomic stability.”

The World Bank reports that infrastructure developments and increasing production of commodities including oil, manganese, and lumber contributed to Gabon’s economy’s 2.9% growth in 2024, up from 2.4% in 2023.

The constitution, which was ratified last November, grants Nguema a seven-year tenure that can be renewed once.

Even though Nguema has ties to the previous regime, he has pledged a departure from the Bongo era, when elites were accused of embezzling Gabon’s oil money. He was once Omar Bongo’s aide-de-camp, the father of Ali Bongo, who was president for over 40 years until his passing in 2009.