May 3, 3025
U.S. Senior Advisor for Africa Massad Boulos joined other world leaders and guests, including African Heads of State and thousands of Gabonese, at the Angondje Stadium in Libreville, Gabon, on Saturday for the inaugural ceremony of Gabonese President Brice Clotaire Oligui Nguema.
In a post on X, he wrote he was honored to have witnessed the ceremonial occasion. “I am honored to attend the ceremony marking a historic milestone for Gabon’s democracy.”
Nguema, a 50-year-old former general and military leader who led a successful military coup in 2023 against President Ali Bongo–whose family ruled the country for over five decades, won a landslide victory in the April 12 presidential election. He campaigned as a meliorist who aimed to root out endemic corruption in the government while also bringing major socioeconomic transformative changes to Gaboneses.
Under his leadership, the Gabonese economy grew 2.9 percent in 2024, bolstered by public infrastructure development funding, manganese, oil and timber output, according to the World Bank’s latest report.
Gabon, which is part of the Congo basin rainforest, has one of the continent’s largest reserve of oil, gold, and manganese. Manganese is used in steel production to enhance strength, stiffness and harness.
Nguema’s agenda aligns with the Trump administration’s overall foreign policy agenda and global economic competitiveness against China as it seeks to reduce Chinese dominance in critical raw minerals such as manganese.
Boulos, who traveled to Gabon on Friday for the ceremony, also met with the new African Union Commission Chairperson Mahmoud Ali Youssouf to mull how the U.S. can continue to collaborate with and support the AU’s agenda and role in advancing development, diplomacy, and stability across the continent
The trip marks Boulos’ second visit to the continent and the fifth nation in a month, signaling the Trump administration’s keen interest in leveling up U.S. economic, trade and security engagements with African countries through strategic regional and global partnerships with the governments and the private sector to open opportunities for American businesses and investors.
Under the leadership of President Donald Trump and Secretary Marco Rubio, the Trump administration works alongside leaders on the continent including Kenyan President William S. Ruto, Somalia’s President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud to address principal regional security issues and terrorism, and most recently with President Felix Tshisekedi of Democratic Republic of Congo and Rwandan President Paul Kagame to end the current war in Eastern DRC between M23 and DRC to pave the way for a viable and sustainable business environment.
Earlier this week, Boulos, along with representatives from the DRC, Rwanda, Togo, and France convened in Doha, hosted by the Qatar government to advance mutual commitment for peace, stability, and prosperity in the Great Lakes region. During the meeting, which builds on the Declaration of Principles agreement signed between DRC and Rwanda officials and witnessed by Secretary of State Marco Rubio at the State Department in Washington D.C. last month, representative leaders underscored the critical importance of upholding the ceasefire commitments, addressing the root causes of the conflict, and responding to the urgent humanitarian situation in eastern DRC.
The ceasefire and peace agreement between DRC and Rwanda, which had been in work for months led by both regional and international government partners, including the G7 leaders, Southern African Development Community leaders, and the Middle East, was finally secured with the help of President Trump.
Boulos, a Lebanese businessman with close business ties to Nigeria’s private sector, called the Declaration of Principles between DRC and Rwanda “a great step towards peace in the region.”
