Ali Bongo Ondimba Height, Weight, Age, Wife, Children

Ali Bongo Ondimba is a Gabonese former politician and musician who served as the third president of Gabon from 2009 to 2023. A member of the Gabonese Democratic Party, he served as the Minister of Foreign Affairs from 1989 to 1991 and later won the 2009 Gabonese presidential election after the death of his father in office and was reelected in 2016. However, the 2016 elections were reportedly marred by a number of irregularities, arrests, human rights violations, and post-election protests and violence.

Born Name

Alain-Bernard Bongo

Other Name

Ali Bongo Ondimba

Sun Sign

Aquarius

Born Place

Brazzaville, French Equatorial Africa (later: Congo-Brazzaville)

Residence

Presidential Palace in Libreville, Gabon

Nationality

Education

Ali Bongo Ondimba studied at a private school in Neuilly-sur-Seine, France. After that, he studied law at the University of Paris (known metonymically as the Sorbonne).

In addition to that, he received an honorary doctorate of law degree from Wuhan University in China in 2018.

Occupation

Politician, Musician, Singer

Family

• Father – Albert-Bernard Bongo (later Omar Bongo Ondimba) (Politician who served as the 2nd president of Gabon for almost 42 years from 1967 until his death in 2009)
• Mother – Josephine Kama (later Patience Dabany) (Singer and musician who served as the First Lady of Gabon from 1967 to 1987)
• Siblings – Albertine Amissa Bongo (Younger Sister) (1964–1993), Pascaline Bongo Ondimba (Older Paternal Half-Sister) (Politician who served as the Minister of Foreign Affairs from 1992 to 1994 and Director of the Cabinet of the President from 1994 to 2009)
• Others – Basile Ondimba (Paternal Grandfather) (Died in 1942), Édouard Valentin (Father-In-Law) (Businessperson who headed the group called Omnium Gabonais d’Assurances et de Réassurances (OGAR, Gabonese Insurance and Reinsurance)), Evelyne Valentin (Mother-In-Law) (Served as President Bongo Ondimba’s secretary)

Genre

Funk

Instruments

Vocals

Build

Average

Height

5 ft 7 in or 170 cm

Weight

80 kg or 176.5 lbs

Girlfriend / Spouse

Ali Bongo Ondimba has dated –

1. Sylvia Valentin (1988-Present) – He met the French-born Sylvia Valentin (the daughter of Édouard Valentin who has served as the CEO of the Omnium gabonais d’assurances et de réassurances (OGAR) insurance company) in the year 1988 and the duo tied the knot the following year. They have 3 sons together – Noureddin Bongo Valentin, Jalil Bongo Ondimba, and Bilal Bongo (whom the couple adopted in 2002).
2. Inge Lynn Collins Bongo (1994-2015) – In 1994, Ali Bongo Ondimba married his 2nd wife Inge Lynn Collins Bongo. After several years, she filed for divorce in 2015.

Note – Ali Bongo Ondimba also has a daughter named Malika Bongo Ondimba from a previous relationship.

Race / Ethnicity

Black

Hair Color

Salt and Pepper

Eye Color

Dark Brown

Sexual Orientation

Straight

Distinctive Features

Receding hairline

Religion

Islam

Ali Bongo Ondimba Facts

1. He changed his name from “Alain-Bernard ” to “Ali” in 1973 when he and his father converted to Islam. Later in 2003, the father-son duo adopted the Obamba patronymic “Ondimba” in memory of Omar’s father, Basile Ondimba.
2. He released an album titled A Brand New Man in 1977 and it was produced by Charles Bobbit.
3. Ali Bongo Ondimba entered politics after graduating from Sorbonne and joined the Gabonese Democratic Party (French: Parti Démocratique Gabonais, abbreviated PDG) in 1981.
4. In March 1983, he was elected to the PDG Central Committee at the party’s Third Extraordinary Congress.
5. From 1987 to 1989, he was the High Personal Representative of the President of the Republic.
6. Ali Bongo Ondimba went on to organize a visit by the legendary American musician Michael Jackson to Gabon in February 1992.
7. He met Barack Obama at the White House on June 9, 2011.
8. Ali Bongo Ondimba announced on August 17, 2015, that he planned to donate everything he inherited from his father to the young people of Gabon, in the form of “a foundation for the youth and education”.
9. In the Pandora Papers leak in 2021, Ali Bongo Ondimba was named as having controlled two shell companies in the British Virgin Islands.

Featured Image by U.S. Department of State / Flickr / Public Domain