Gabon military coup: How Bongo family gained fortune from the country's oil reserves
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Transcript
00:00 He's one of the wealthiest individuals in Africa.
00:03 Ali Bongo had a gilded start in life as a scion of his wealthy ruling family.
00:08 His father, Omar Bongo, had ruled Gabon for more than four decades, amassing a fortune
00:13 of 66 bank accounts, over 180 luxury cars and lavish watches.
00:19 And not least, more than 30 properties in France, including apartments in Paris and
00:24 villas on the French Riviera.
00:26 His holdings became a subject of legal action in 2008 by the French authorities in a case
00:32 that's come to be known as the "Ill-Gotten Gains Affair."
00:36 As his family steadily built its wealthy empire, Ali Bongo worked as his father's faithful
00:41 lieutenant, traveling the globe and forging contacts at the time of the second oil boom,
00:46 eventually inheriting his political position and commercial interests, which he used to
00:51 accumulate over a billion dollars in personal wealth.
00:55 The vast riches of the Bongo family is no secret, a fortune primarily derived from Gabon's
01:00 oil reserves.
01:01 But the family has gained a reputation of kleptocrats, using their power to profit from
01:06 their country's resources.
01:08 Many have denounced them for not letting the country's oil wealth trickle down to the population
01:13 of 2.3 million people.