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...
What effect has Gabon’s log export ban had?
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...
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...
One of Gabon’s greatest paradoxes is agriculture. Blessed with 5m ha of fertile arable land and a tropical climate with annual rainfall of 1800-4000 mm, it has all the ingredients to feed its growing population. And yet it is dependent on imports for some 90% of its food requirements, costing the country in excess of CFA300bn (€450m) per annum....
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...
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