It is public knowledge that the Africa n°1 Gabon radio station is going down the hill and also that Gabon’s government committed to rescue the pan African media. “The Gabonese government, to help the station, committed to provide it with 150 million Fcfa monthly”, news website Gaboneco stated. The news website added that the spokesperson to government who also happens to be minister of Communication, Alain-Claude Bilié By Nzé, confirmed the amount. Giving no further details, Gaboneco said the minister was expressing himself at a press conference.

The 150 million Fcfa will be used to pay salaries of the station’s employees. These employees went on a 2-months strike in 2015. The funds will also insure that the radio’s privatization committee and institutions responsible for restructuring remain operational. Truly, since 2011, Africa n°1 is undergoing restructuring. Gaboneco in fact reveals that the company is financially liable of Fcfa22 billion.

The day after he had been nominated, the minister of communication, Alain-Claude Bilié By Nzé, reassured that Africa n°1 would not die. “There is no reason for this amazing station, which lived 30 years, to die. Now is the time to take some important decisions”, he declared during his first contact-taking visit in October 2015.

Founded in 1981, Africa n°1 is no more “Africa’s great radio station”. It has been facing a serious financial crisis since Gabon’s and Libya’s respective former presidents Omar Bongo and Mouammar Kadhafi died. Lybia, the majority stakeholder (52%) cut financing.

In Gabon, in Mouyabi especially, the emitting centre fell in disuse, just like Fm relays in 18 African capital cities. For more than 10 years, a major part of the station’s personnel has no status. Africa n°1; the label, survives only through its Parisian channel which belongs to a French company.

Assongmo Necdem