Home to 60% of the world’s arable land, Africa has the potential to meet not only its own food needs, but also those of the rest of the world. Agriculture remains one of the most important economic sectors for the continent, employing the majority of the population and accounting for 14% of GDP in sub-Saharan Africa. The Agriculture in Africa 2021: Focus Report outlines the region’s export…
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,…
In English Le Gabon déploie actuellement un nouveau programme d’observation des forêts afin de surveiller les espaces verts et de promouvoir le développement durable dans le cadre des engagements pris sous l’Accord de Paris. Le pays bénéficie dans sa démarche de l’appui financier de bailleurs de fonds, qui devrait permettre au secteur sylvicole de suivre une trajectoire de croissance…
In English Les initiatives visant à augmenter la production agricole et à faire du Gabon un leader de la production d’huile de palme ont fait un grand pas en avant ce mois avec l’achèvement de la plus grande usine d’huile de palme du pays. Le potentiel de l’huile de palme Située à Mouila, dans la province de la Ngounié dans le sud-est du pays, cette nouvelle usine d’huile de…
Much attention is being focused on Gabon’s rural areas and on developing the country’s roughly 5m ha of fertile land. While it is has one of the lowest population densities in sub-Saharan Africa, according to the Ministry of Agriculture, around 86% of the country’s 1.8m inhabitants have opted to live in the major urban centres – namely Libreville, but also Port-Gentil and, to a smaller extent,…
Much attention is being focused on Gabon’s rural areas and on developing the 5m ha of fertile land it contains. While the country has one of the lowest population densities in sub-Saharan Africa, around 86% of its 1.8m inhabitants have opted to live in the major urban centres. As a result, the rural workforce is lacking and work is being undertaken to tackle this issue through advertising campaigns…
Interview: Frederic Ober; Didier Balzaretti What effect has Gabon’s log export ban had? FREDERIC OBER: It is logical for a country to strive to preserve and create value in-country, but the move to ban log exports was too abrupt. The lack of time to transition forced investors to act immediately and resulted in huge losses for operators and the country as a whole. Despite the measures put in place…
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…
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…
