Economy

People everywhere in the world are hungry for economic opportunity. And it’s about a lot more than being able to make money. It’s about your dignity. It’s about respect. It’s about your place in your community. And to be frank, the challenges ahead for all of us are immense, especially in regions with developing economies and rapidly growing populations.

Gabon’s ambitious campaign to diversify its economy – now in its fifth year – may have gotten an unexpected boost from the manoeuvring of some of the world’s biggest oil producers. Following the OPEC meeting in November 2014, oil prices plunged. A push by OPEC member states to maintain high production levels in the face of growing US shale...

Since the launch of the Emerging Gabon plan in 2009, the country has unveiled a number of measures to try to reduce its dependency on its flagship hydrocarbons sector – a process that has become all the more urgent as oil prices have fallen.

Even amid a drop in the price of oil, the country’s chief export, Gabon has seen stable growth over the past five years, aided in part by a large government spending campaign that has sought to encourage greater diversification. According to the World Bank’s 2015 “Doing Business” report, the country has maintained its edge as the most attractive...

A sharp drop in the price of oil has prompted Gabon to revise its expenditure plans. In light of decreasing revenues from its major export earner, authorities have started to take action. In early 2015, faced with oil prices of under $50 per barrel, the government organised a seminar to discuss the issue, announcing that a revision of the budget...