With 89 percent of its total land being covered by rainforests, it’s a Country in Central Africa

which is strategically nestled on the Gulf of Guinea, bounded to the northwest by Equatorial
Guinea, to the north by Cameroon, to the east and south by the Republic of Congo, and to the
west by the Atlantic Ocean, Gabon an earthly paradise. It’s a home of around 80 percent of
Africa’s gorilla population; 50 percent of all remaining forest elephants in Africa; and thousands
of species of birds, reptiles, mammals and thousands of species of plants that you can’t find
elsewhere, indeed Gabon is a paradise. Its Capital Libreville also known as ‘free city’ was the
landing place for a ship of freed slaves in the 1800s.It was later in 1849 declared the city for the
freed slaves.

Gabon has a population of 2.1 million, with 86 % of Gabonese living in urbans areas, it has one
of the lowest population densities of any country in Africa. It has unemployment rate of 19.5%,
inflation 2.8%, a risk rating of B and classified as an upper-middle-income country by the World
Bank.

Gabon economic growth for past five years has mainly been driven by its heavy production of oil
and manganese. It’s the Third largest producer of manganese in the world and the firth largest oil
producer in Africa. The oil sector accounted for 80% of exports, 45 % of GDP and 60% of fiscal
revenue on average for the past five years (World Bank 2019). It’s also one of the largest
exporter of raw wood in the in Africa and one of the world top 10 producers. In the quest of
diversifying the economy, the government has promoted the local processing of timber, palm oil,
and manganese which has resulted in the growth of manufacturing sector, contributing 17.62 %
to GDP in 2018 compared with 6% in 2012. Gabon's cash crops are palm oil, cocoa, coffee, and
sugar. Its major imports are machinery (14% of total imports), boats (14%), electrical machinery
(11%), and Poultry meat (6%) (ITC, 2017).Its major trading partners are the Unites States,
China, the Republic of Korea, Australia and Spain (UNCTAD, 2017) with China and France as
Gabon’s main suppliers.

In 2018 Gabon’s GDP growth reached an estimated 2.0%, up from 0.5% in 2017 with a figure of
$17.02 billion (IMF). Industry sector accounted for 45.47%, followed by Service Sector 42.65
%, Manufacturing 17.62% and Agriculture 5.27%. Gabon's GDP per capita income is over four
times that of most sub-Saharan African countries, making it one of the highest in the region.
Its public debt decreased to 58.4% GDP in 2018 from 62.7% GDP in 2017 mainly due to rapidly
increasing of large investments, however, its high proportion of external debt is denominated in
foreign currencies which remains a source of concern. Fiscal deficit improved from 3.6% in 2017
to an estimated 0.3% in 2018, largely through fiscal consolidation (AFDB

For over 50 years Gabon never experience a coup attempt until January, the 7 th 2019, when the
military tried to overthrow the current President, Ali Bongo Ondimba. Bongo came in power in
2009, after the death of his father Omar Bongo who held the presidency for 41 years. The coup
however, was unsuccessful.

Gabon is current faced with serious challenges; Low reserves, low economic activity, lack of
economic diversification, infrastructure impediments, a small and vulnerable banking sector, and
insufficient protection for the most vulnerable groups. However, In the context of the three-year
extended arrangement under the Extended Fund Facility signed with the IMF in 2017, the
government’s priorities for 2019 remain fiscal consolidation and structural reforms (Societe
Generale,2019)