In English Grâce à une réserve de projets ambitieux visant à favoriser la croissance dans différents secteurs de l’économie, le Gabon est parvenu à tenir le cap face aux faibles prix du pétrole enregistrés sur une longue période en 2016 et entend mettre en œuvre, au cours des 12 prochains mois, de vastes réformes afin d’appuyer ses efforts de diversification économique. Bien…
In English Le soutien financier de la Chine, constitué d’investissement privé et de prêts préférentiels, devrait aider le Gabon à mettre en place une série de projets dans le domaine des infrastructures au cours des années à venir. Une visite d’Etat de quatre jours du Président Ali Bongo Ondimba dans la grande puissance asiatique début décembre s’est soldée par la signature…
Gabon’s economy has reached a critical juncture in 2016, with the drop in global oil prices having increased the need for and urgency of economic diversification, while reducing the availability of public financing to back the transformation. Under the now seven-year-old economic strategy, the Emerging Gabon Strategic Plan, the government has hastened efforts to expand the scope of economic activity,…
Gabon benefits from considerable hydrocarbons reserves, with the World Bank citing Gabon as the fifth-largest oil producer in Africa. Oil accounted for 70% of exports, 20% of GDP, and 40% of budget revenues in 2015. However, declining production and lower oil prices have seen economic growth slow. Diversifying the economy is therefore a priority for the Bongo Ondimba administration, as evidenced b
At the beginning of July 2016 Gabon rejoined the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) after an absence of more than two decades. This comes as Gabonese authorities look for enhanced coordination with other global oil producers to alleviate some of the pressure of low energy prices and help cultivate an environment more conducive to expanding domestic production. Back Into The Fold While…
Health care coverage in Gabon has been transformed over the last decade by a comprehensive state-backed public scheme, the National Health Insurance and Social Security Fund (Caisse Nationale d’Assurance Maladie et de Garantie Sociale, CNAMGS). The initiative, on which the World Health Organisation (WHO) provided advice, was created in 2007 and began registering low-income Gabonese, including students,…
The launch of a new grain processing facility and oil palm plantation mark the latest steps forward for the agro-industrial sector in Gabon. With low oil prices constraining the country’s largest source of export revenues and slowing headline growth, the Gabonese government has sought to accelerate economic diversification through the Emerging Gabon Strategic Plan, placing a particular emphasis on…
As part of its economic diversification strategy, Gabon is developing three new special economic zones (SEZs), offering companies a range of investment incentives, each of which is to be dedicated to the development of different industrial sectors. Up & Running The first zone to have been launched is the Nkok SEZ, work on which began in 2010, and it began exporting goods in 2015. The zone is…
Following a sharp drop since mid-2014 in the international price of oil, which is by far Gabon’s biggest source of export and fiscal revenues, the country is in the midst of a significant oil price shock. However, the government is better placed to avoid a pro-cyclical response than in previous oil crises, and the financial sector appears to have in large part recovered from the initial shock of…
When the ban on timber exports was enacted in 2010, operators and experts in the field voiced strong concerns over the adjustment period within the moratorium, stating that the forestry sector was not sufficiently prepared for such sudden and radical changes. The moratorium brought in its wake various drawbacks, with lasting results still visible today. Operators had to terminate all ongoing contracts…
