For the past two weeks, the prime minister, who is very active on social networks, has also been publishing his messages in English, following the example of the very Anglophile president Ali Bongo Ondimba.
This is a slight inflection, revealing a profound trend.
For a fortnight, Rose Christiane Ossouka Raponda has been broadcasting on the networks, on which she is very active, in French and English.
«She does it systematically when the message has an international scope,» explains one of her advisers.
Yesterday, Wednesday 26 October, the Gabonese Prime Minister, the first woman to occupy this position, did so twice: after her exchange with the president of the Association for African Economy and Development, the Japanese Tetsuro Yano, and following her meeting with the Deputy Under Secretary of Defense of the United States in charge of African Affairs, Chidi Blyden.
«This is a way of marking our country’s membership of the Commonwealth. We need to set an example at the highest level. It is also a way of encouraging young people to practice English because this language, tomorrow even more than today, will be predominant in the world of education as well as business,» said this adviser to the Prime Minister.
President Ali Bongo, who is perfectly bilingual, has long posted messages in French and English on social networks. Since Gabon joined the Commonwealth on 25 June at the Kigali Summit, he has done so almost systematically.
Rose Christiane Ossouka Raponda and Chidi Blyden, US Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for African Affairs, Wednesday 26 October 2022.
