GABON Etienne Lepoukou, sole survivor of oil ministry

摘要

The former Total Gabon director EtienneLepoukou was confirmed as the technical advisorin charge of oil and gas matters within the ministryof petroleum recently. The announcement thatLepoukou was to hold on to his position cameamid a string of new appointments in which all ofthe other former minister advisors were replaced.Lepoukou is the only member of the former cabinetto have survived the arrival of the new oilminister Noel Mboumba, appointed on June 10.The technical expert, who spent two years alongsideMboumba’s predecessor Pascal HouangniAmbouroue, is well versed in oil matters. He wasalso an advisor to former minister of petroleumEtienne Ngoubou, who was sentenced and imprisonedin 2018 during the anti-corruption operationMamba, then later released in 2019. Lepoukouspent a year in 2013 with Ngoubou before beingappointed deputy general manager for TotalGabon, a role he held until 2016. As the state owns25% of Total Gabon, this role was always givento a Gabonese official. The statesman has a stayingpower that is rare within the oil ministry. Healso represents his country at OPEC, an honorarytitle given to trusted confidents.