Despite the high level of competition in Gabon’s insurance market, strong margins and steady growth in the last five years continue to attract new players. Most recently, Wafa Assurance, Morocco’s main insurance provider by market share, signalled in March 2014 that it plans to launch operations in Gabon and three other countries in the Central Africa region.
Home to 1.63m people, Gabon has one of the most dynamic insurance markets in Central and West Africa. Although personal lines are beginning to expand, sector development has been driven by large-scale industrial operations. The domestic financial sector does not have the capacity to fully underwrite major industrial and transport risks, but operators circumvent this...
The regional stock exchange based in Gabon is beginning to see an uptick in activity. Since the first listing in 2008, the market has been dominated by bonds. This is in part a result of factors common across most African economies: limited transparency among eligible corporates, for example, and a preference to avoid diluting ownership – both of which limit the number...
As a bastion of liquidity within the financially turbulent Economic and Monetary Community of Central Africa (Communauté Économique des États de l’Afrique Centrale, CEMAC), Gabon competes head-on with the more populous Cameroon for the title of regional banking centre. While its lenders enjoy a cash surplus – total bank credit of CFA2.4trn (€3.6bn) accounted for 23.3% of...
Developing the downstream timber industry is a central element of Gabon’s strategy to achieve economic diversification and long-term growth through domestic processing of its natural resources. With 85% of the country under tropical forest cover, the timber sector benefits from an extensive raw materials supply. It is also a major employer, and absorbs more of the...
The ratification of the Comprehensive Africa Agriculture Development Programme (Programme Détaillé pour le Développement Agricole en Afrique, PDDAA) by Gabon in May 2013 is a step towards increasing output in one of the government’s priority sectors. Introduced in 2003 by the New Partnership for Africa’s Development, the PDDAA is an African...
Stay updated on how some of the world’s most promising markets are being affected by the Covid-19 pandemic, and what actions governments and private businesses are taking to mitigate challenges and ensure their long-term growth story continues.
Register now and also receive a complimentary 2-month licence to the OBG Research Terminal.
Register Here×