Gabon

Policy measures taken by successive governments to introduce sustainable forestry management and to develop the downstream timber industry are widely expected to offer long-term environmental and economic benefits. However, in the short term they have delivered a blow to the forestry industry, which is still feeling the effects, particularly the...

The Gabonese Initiative for Achieving Agricultural Outcomes with Engaged Citizenry (Gabonaise des Réalisations Agricoles et des Initiatives des Nationaux Engagés, GRAINE) is part of the government’s ambition to boost agriculture’s contribution to GDP from 5% to 20% by 2025, and, in the process, reduce the country’s dependence on food imports....

Project finance is one of the main drivers of business in the Gabonese banking sector. The IMF describes most local banking activity as “concentrated on large companies financing large-scale projects”. Despite this, some investment-intensive sectors in particular, such as oil and gas and mining, tend to raise financing abroad rather than from...

In recent years Gabon has witnessed rapid growth in banking assets, lending and deposits, as well as in penetration and financial inclusion indicators, albeit from a low base, though the fall in the price of oil is having an impact on the economy that banks say will slow down business in 2015. The sector has traditionally struggled to convert...

The country is home to the Stock Exchange of Central Africa (Bourse des Valeurs Mobilières d’Afrique Centrale, BVMAC), which has been operational since 2008 and is the regional exchange for the CEMAC economic bloc. The market has seen only light activity, in particular as regards equity listings. In its 2014 Article IV Consultation for Gabon...