Travel Guide Oyem

Oyem was founded in 1907, shortly before the demarcation of the borders with German Cameroon. At that time, Woleu-Ntem still belonged to France, but in 1911, when the latter ceded the province to Germany, the new occupants created plantations, set up businesses and set up a mobile medical service. Provincial capital of Woleu-Ntem, 411 km from Libreville, this charming city with a glorious past has about 60,000 inhabitants, making it the fourth largest city in the country. Situated at an altitude of 650 m, it enjoys a cooler climate than Libreville. According to tradition, its name comes from an imposing tree near the official stand, which was cut down in the 1990s. Oyem has an airport at Ewormekok, which puts Libreville less than an hour away by plane, as well as a hospital and a state high school that serve people from all over the region. The Catholic mission college in Angone also has many students. This northern regional capital is mainly inhabited by Fang people, but also includes a minority of Hausa herders and traders, of Muslim culture and religion, who gather in the mosque of Akouakam. The Gabonese novelist Justine Mintsa, a member of the Fang ethnic group, was born in Oyem in 1949. She is known, among other works, for Un seul tournant Makôsu : journal (Éditions L'Harmattan, 2004) and Histoire d'Awu (Gallimard, 2000).