KIGALI, Rwanda

Brice Oligui Nguema, who won Gabon's presidential election last month, was sworn in as the president of the country on Saturday for a seven-year term.

A Constitutional Court judge administered the oath at a stadium north of the capital, Libreville, in a ceremony attended by several African heads of state and streamed live.

“After 18 months of transition, Gabon is returning to democracy and taking its momentum towards happiness with hope. Gabon has become an example of a successful transition in Africa,” Central African Republic President Faustin-Archange Touadera said during the inauguration.

Nguema won the April 12 presidential election with 94.85% of the vote—the first such election since the 2023 military coup.

He campaigned under the Rally of Builders platform, which was supported by several political parties and civil society groups.

Nguema has pledged to consolidate reforms introduced during the transition period, including enhancing Gabon’s economic sovereignty, implementing policies to improve citizens’ daily lives, and tackling youth unemployment.

The Committee for the Transition and Restoration of Institutions, which governed after the coup, was officially dissolved Friday, ending 18 months of transitional rule.

Gabon’s new constitution, adopted following a 2024 referendum, sets a renewable seven-year presidential term.

Nguema, 50, led the military coup in August 2023 that ousted President Ali Bongo, ending the Bongo family’s 56-year hold on power in the oil-rich Central African country.

The coup took place shortly after the national election authority announced Bongo had secured a third term.

Bongo had been in office since 2009, succeeding his father, Omar Bongo, who ruled for over four decades.

Gabon joined a growing list of African nations that have experienced military takeovers in recent years, including Niger in July 2023 and Mali in 2022.

Nguema previously served as commander of the Republican Guard and held the position of the transitional president from September 2023.

The son of a military officer, he was educated at the Royal Military Academy of Meknes in Morocco.

He served as one of Omar Bongo’s aides-de-camp, and after Ali Bongo assumed power, Nguema held diplomatic assignments.