Markets and trade came to a halt on Thursday at a Cameroonian town that borders Gabon one day after military officers ousted President Ali Bongo in what’s now the eighth coup in West and Central Africa since 2020.
On Thursday, the African Union suspended Gabon’s membership, the first regional response to the coup.
The takeover ends the Bongo family dynasty’s almost six decades in power and creates a new conundrum for a region hit with a wave of coups that Nigerian President Bola Tinubu called a “contagion of autocracy.”
In a statement on Thursday, the junta said it had resumed domestic flights and restored some state institutions, but land and air borders remain shut.
Residents in border town Amban fear the prolonged closures of borders could harm local markets, where Gabonese citizens make up a sizable portion of customers.
Source: Reuters
