Gabon names prominent banker as minister of finance

Gabon's leader Brice Oligui Nguema has named a new cabinet, after his landslide victory in a presidential election in April, choosing a prominent banker and businessman to tackle the country's acute liquidity shortage.

President Nguema, inaugurated over the weekend, has said he will boost agriculture, industry and tourism in the oil-dependent economy and fight corruption.

On Monday he named Henri-Claude Oyima, the chief executive of Gabon-based BGFI Bank and head of the Gabonese Confederation of Businesses, to be minister of state, economy, finance and debt.

Oyima could not be reached for comment.

Prior to his election win, Nguema seized power in 2023 from the Bongo family that had ruled the Central African nation for over 50 years.