Gabon

The development of Gabon’s road infrastructure is one of the factors with the greatest potential to boost overall economic growth and to encourage regional trade. The government has made road network upgrades a priority under the National Infrastructure Master Plan for 2011-16 and aims to facilitate the investment of $6bn in the next five years in...

With Gabon looking to diversify sources of growth and ensure sustainable development, the government has set ambitious goals for developing the tourism industry, and aims to attract 100,000 visitors annually by 2020. Ecotourism, a key component of the Green Gabon strategy, one of the three main pillars of President Ali Bongo Ondimba’s Emerging Gabon...

In 2011, total global exports of nitrogenous fertilisers reached a record value of $25.7bn, having grown by 60.6% in value between 2009 and 2011. The main exporter is Russia, which exported 11m tonnes of fertilisers in 2011. Urea is the most commonly used nitrogenous fertiliser, and in a context of a growing international demand for fertilisers, the...

Despite growing competition, Gabon’s three largest lenders continue to maintain substantial market shares. Combined, BGFIB ank, Banque Internationale pour le Commerce et l’Industrie du Gabon (BICIG), and Union Gabonaise de Banques (UGB) accounted for more than 80% of all loans and deposits in the country as of March 2012, according to the...

Across Libreville, Gabon’s economic and political capital, construction is booming. New apartment projects stand beside office-tower scaffolding. Outside the city centre, ground is being cleared beside the village of Nkok to make way for large industrial projects in the newly inaugurated special economic zone. Inland, mining projects across the...