OPEC-Member Gabon Gets First Woman Vice President Ahead of Vote

(Bloomberg) -- Gabon’s President Ali Bongo Ondimba appointed Rose Christiane Ossouka Raponda as the oil-rich central African nation’s first female vice president months before elections.

Most Read from Bloomberg

• US Safety Agency to Consider Ban on Gas Stoves Amid Health Fears

• Rental Housing Is Suddenly Headed Toward a Hard Landing

• Brady, Gisele, Patriots’ Bob Kraft Among FTX Shareholders Facing Wipeout

• Apple to Begin Making In-House Screens in 2024 in Shift Away From Samsung

• These Are the Best Passports for Travelers to Hold in 2023

Ossouka Raponda, who became the country’s first woman prime minister in 2020, was named to the position that had been vacant since 2019. Her deputy, Alain-Claude Bilie-By-Nze, was promoted to prime minister. He had also served as energy minister in the previous cabinet.

Nicole Jeanine Lydie Roboty remains as finance minister and Vincent de Paul Massassa as oil minister in the revamped 45-member executive. Lee White was reappointed as environment minister.

The 2016 presidential vote was marred by a violent police crackdown as opposition supporters protested election results that few considered plausible, leaving scores of people dead. Bongo narrowly defeated his only challenger, Jean Ping, by less than 6,000 ballots.

Gabon is the second-smallest member of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries.

Most Read from Bloomberg Businessweek

• America’s Aggressive Chip Strategy Forces China Into a Corner

• The Great American EV Battery Revolution Might Finally Be Here

• Poland’s Election Provides a Path Out of EU Isolation

• Google and Meta Are Losing Their Grip on the Digital Ad Market

• China’s Consumers Are the Key to Lifting 2023 Growth Above 5%

©2023 Bloomberg L.P.