Background
She is the daughter of Edouard Valentin, a French businessman who heads the group called Omnium Gabonais d"Assurances et de Réassurances (OGAR, Gabonese Insurance and Reinsurance).
She is the daughter of Edouard Valentin, a French businessman who heads the group called Omnium Gabonais d"Assurances et de Réassurances (OGAR, Gabonese Insurance and Reinsurance).
Sylvia Bongo Ondimba graduated with an advanced-level degree (Diplôme d'études supérieures spécialisées) in corporate management in France, and then decided to return to Gabon.
She created the Sylvia Bongo Ondimba Foundation entitled "Foreign the family" in January 2011 "to improve the plight of vulnerable and disadvantaged people around the world". Edouard Valentin"s wife, Evelyne Valentin, then became President Bongo Ondimba"s secretary. They have four children: Malika, Noureddin Edouard, Jalil Louis, and Bilal, adopted by the couple in 2002.
On 16 October 2009, as Ali Bongo Ondimba was elected president, Sylvia Bongo Ondimba became Gabon"s First Lady.
Sylvia Bongo Ondimba was hired and quickly promoted to the post of Deputy Managing Director of the country"s largest real estate firm, Gabon Immobilier, where she was named responsible for the company"s marketing and economic development. In 1990, she created her own wealth management firm, Alliance South America, at the age of 25.
Actions: gave rise to the project known as the caravan through Gabon"s hinterland, whose mission was to record the grievances raised by residents of the country"s more isolated areas. adopted a resolution to mark 23 June of each year as International Widows" Day, from a project initiated by Sylvia Bongo Ondimba herself. In April 2011, the Sylvia Bongo Ondimba Foundation donated to the Gabonese population a total of 18,000 mosquito screens.
In October 2010, the Sylvia Bongo Ondimba Foundation donated 250 electric scooters, crutches and wheelchairs to benefit several associations working to improve the lives of the disabled.
The Akassi microfinance project sponsored by the Sylvia Bongo Ondimba Foundation and intended to facilitate entrepreneurship among Gabonese women and their families.