Radio Television Gabonaise (RTG)

Radio Télévision Gabonaise (RTG) is used here as the State Media Monitor umbrella label for Gabon’s state-owned public broadcasting system, comprising Groupe Gabon Télévisions and Radio Gabon. The system operates two television channels, a French-language radio network, and several province-based radio stations, and functions as a central pillar in the government’s communication strategy and the country’s primary public media outlet. Radio broadcasting began with Radio Gabon on 28 November 1959, and television broadcasts started on 9 May 1963; the flagship television channel, formerly RTG1, was rebranded Gabon Télévision in 2012. The broadcasting system is headquartered at the Maison Georges Rawiri in Libreville.

Media assets

Television: RTG1, RTG2

Radio: Radio Gabon chain

Ownership and governance

The Gabonese public broadcasting system operates under state supervision through the Ministry of Communication and Media. The state holds responsibility for senior management and major operational decisions, leaving little room for independent institutional governance; senior leadership appointments are made through government and Council of Ministers processes rather than by the ministry acting alone.

Following the August 2023 change of government, the broadcasting system’s leadership was reshaped. After the Council of Ministers of 28 September 2023, El-Muth Moutchinga Boulingui became Director General of Groupe Gabon Télévisions, replacing Ali Reynald Radjoumba; a graduate of the Centre d’études des sciences et techniques de l’information (CESTI) in Dakar, he had previously served as Director General of the Agence Gabonaise de Presse (AGP) and as a Deputy Director General of RTG. The subsequent handover also installed Claudette Ewore as Director General of Radio Gabon.

The supervisory ministry is led by Germain Biahodjow, appointed Minister of Communication and Media in the government formed on 1 January 2026, succeeding Paul-Marie Gondjout. Gabon’s political system is dominated by President Brice Clotaire Oligui Nguema, who took power in the coup d’état of 30 August 2023 that ended the rule of the Bongo family, won the presidential election of 12 April 2025, and presides over a presidential system established by the new constitution adopted by referendum in November 2024. The government formed on 1 January 2026, the second government after the post-coup transition and the 2025 election, named Hugues Alexandre Barro Chambrier as Vice-President of the Republic and Hermann Immongault as Vice-President of the Government.

Source of funding and budget

The broadcasting system appears primarily dependent on allocations from the national government. While it collects limited revenue from advertising, media observers confirm that public subsidies remain the dominant source of financial support. No official figures regarding the system’s annual budget have been made publicly available, and no standalone audited financial statements were identified.

Editorial independence

Editorially, the Gabonese state broadcasting system is widely regarded as a tightly controlled arm of the executive. State Media Monitor baseline review indicates that news coverage is heavily skewed in favour of the presidency, with news bulletins routinely opening with segments lauding the president, often featuring ceremonial events or congratulatory messages. There are no statutory protections, independent oversight bodies, or internal safeguards in place to guarantee editorial independence; the system remains an instrument of state messaging rather than an autonomous public-service broadcaster.

Gabon’s media regulator is the Haute Autorité de la Communication (HAC), chaired by Germain Ngoyo Moussavou, which replaced the former Conseil National de la Communication. The regulatory environment grew markedly more restrictive during the cycle: on 17 February 2026, the HAC issued Decision No. 0002/HAC/2026 ordering a precautionary suspension of access to social-media services across the national territory; the measure, communicated through a statement read on national television and reported publicly on 18 February, was justified by the authorities as a response to a rise in “information disorders,” and the affected platforms were not all specified. In March 2026, after former first lady Sylvia Bongo Ondimba’s interview with the international broadcaster France 24, Minister Biahodjow denounced the allegations as defamatory and raised the possibility of suspending France 24’s broadcasts in Gabon.

AI and digital policy

The broadcasting system maintains a digital presence through the Groupe Gabon Télévisions portal and associated streaming channels, carrying its national television and radio output online. The broader national digital-policy environment was dominated during the cycle by the HAC’s February 2026 social-media suspension and by a reform of the HAC’s legal framework, an ordinance modifying the communication law of 3 July 2023, examined by the National Assembly’s communication committee in May 2026.

No publicly available RTG policy on AI-generated content, synthetic-media disclosure, or content provenance frameworks such as C2PA was identified. Gabon’s media-regulatory framework does not currently include sector-specific provisions governing AI-generated audiovisual content, deepfakes, or synthetic-media authentication standards.

May 2026