Gabon

Gabon is bordered by Equatorial Guinea and Cameroon to the north, the Republic of the Congo to the east and south, and the Atlantic Ocean to the west. The islands of Sao Tome and Principe are situated off the coast. It has a land mass of 267,668km²and a coastline of 885km, a population of 2.5 million people and a GDP of US$20.4bn which is expected to grow by 2.8% in 2025.
Its currency is the CFA Franc.

Gabon’s strong commodity exports led to a trade surplus in 2024, but it remains highly dependent on a few products, with 97 percent of exports consisting in oil, manganese, and wood. While inflation declined, limited employment opportunities and modest growth have increased poverty, with over a third of Gabonese living in poverty, while unemployment is high at 20% of the workforce.

Its outlook is vulnerable to strong global uncertainties like trade restrictions and fluctuating oil prices. Growth would be driven by wood, minerals, and agriculture. Political uncertainty should decline with a newly elected Government and return to constitutional order. However, strong reforms are needed to create more jobs and reduce poverty.
Gabon contains unexploited deposits of iron ore, potash and uranium and gold. It is Africa’s second-largest manganese producer and Africa’s fifth largest oil producer. About 50% of the country’s gold output is produced by artisanal and small-scale miners.

Gabon’s government wants to decrease the economy’s dependence on oil by attracting investment into the mining industry, especially in manganese, gold and iron ore. In the 2019 Mining Code, mineral export fees were reduced, and mining licences’ validity period was extended from 10 to 20 years. The Moanda School of Mining and Metallurgy in Gabon is the only school of mining in Central Africa.


Sources: Who Owns Whom sector reports, CIA Factbook, African Development Bank, World Bank, Trading Economics, African Statistical Yearbook and IMF. ?>