En Français While West Africa is one of the largest producers of cotton, it has the ability to process less than 2% of the crop locally; around 90% is exported to markets in Asia, where value is added through spinning and weaving. The industrialisation of West Africa is therefore essential for the region to fully capitalise on its resources, boost growth and create employment along the value chain. The…
– Textile and fashion is the world’s second-largest industrial polluter, behind oil and gas – Concerted efforts are being made to create more sustainable business models – Two solar-powered, sustainable textile plants under construction in Togo and Benin – Increased cotton processing could mean value-added textile earnings stay in West Africa With textiles and fashion expected to…
So much has happened over the past decade in the African markets we cover: Ghana discovered oil, Nigeria re-based its economy, Kenya developed mobile money, Côte d’Ivoire recovered from a civil war, Egypt underwent a peaceful revolution, and Morocco created an aeronautics industry. State assets were privatised, dictators were ousted, and new cities were built. Of course, there have been plenty…
In English L’heure est au progrès pour le secteur minier gabonais, avec le développement de nouveaux projets qui s’inscrivent dans le cadre d’une stratégie gouvernementale visant à attirer les investissements étrangers et à contrer le ralentissement enregistré l’année dernière. Fin février le ministre des mines et de l’industrie, Christian Magnagna, a déclaré que la production…
Interview:Pietro Amico What is the current state of the manganese industry in Gabon, and what are its prospects? PIETRO AMICO: The sharp drop in commodity prices in 2015 has heavily impacted mining companies, including manganese producers. Operators were forced to adapt their production by restructuring their activities, resulting in a slowdown or even a partial shutdown of their operations. In…
The mining sector has traditionally been a major currency earner for Gabon. The country is the world’s fourth-largest producer of manganese, and is thought to have more than 2bn tonnes of iron ore, over 40 tonnes of proven gold reserves, and a range of other base and rare-earth minerals, including lead, zinc, copper, diamonds, niobium and titanium. The mining sector’s contribution to GDP is estimated…
While oil has been the driving engine behind Gabon’s economy since independence, the country’s other underground resources have in many ways been equally prominent. The mining sector has traditionally been a major currency earner for Gabon. The country is the world’s fourth-largest producer of manganese, with reserves of 150m tonnes and production of 1.8m tonnes in 2015. Gabon is thought to have…
Launched in 2010, the Emerging Gabon Strategic Plan (Plan Stratégique Gabon Emergent, PSGE) aims to reduce Gabon’s reliance on oil production by 2025 through the development of three sectoral-focused pillars: Green Gabon, which targets timber, agriculture and ecotourism; Industrial Gabon, which emphasises value addition through local processing of raw materials; and Gabon Services, which seeks to…
Special economic zones (SEZs) have become a popular way for governments around the world to try and accelerate investment in select sectors and industries, and for its part Gabon has seen more success than most. In an effort to attract the investment that was pledged under the Industrial Gabon pillar of the Emerging Gabon Strategic Plan, an SEZ framework was legislated in 2011, with the first SEZ built…
As part of the government’s plans to promote value addition under the Industrial Gabon pillar of the Emerging Gabon Strategic Plan, the processing of minerals has seen some key developments. President Ali Bongo Ondimba announced a decision in mid-2016 to ban raw material exports by 2020, suggesting that even minerals would have to undergo some value addition. While scrap metal recycling is picking…