Albionbaataridae

The Gabon exports Manganèse, oil, Fer, wood and many other products of its ground and its basement well before the years 1960, the exploitation of the mines of Uranium of Franceville is finished since 1999. The train of Lastourville-Libreville since then exports, the ore of the iron and manganese mines located at Mouanda. The ferrous layers of Bélinga in the North-East of Makokou are not exploited yet.

New oil reservoirs were found in deep water of the Gabonese littoral edge and represents an impressive economic potential future.

Currently, a layer of Molybdène was located in Mouila, its capacity is estimated at 100 million tons.

Another layer whose ore would be pure Niobium to 96% at summer discovered close to Lambaréné.

These new layers are vital for the country, unfortunately, they are located in a very difficult zone of access, and there is no road, of railway where of river to reach it. Today, the Gabonais state tries to make build a railway between the towns of Kango that of Lambaréné and of Mouila, work is very difficult and thus very long.

Development

In spite of its economic assets, Gabon is not classified in 2006 qu ' with the 124e row on 177 for the Indice of human development of the Programme of the United Nations for the development (UNDP).

Oil industry

Gabon is the 37e producer of world oil, with 234.000 barrels per day. Its oil production started its decline in 1997.

Since the Seventies, the Pétrole represents grosso-modo 80% of exports, 60% of the public revenue and 40% of the GDP of Gabon. It is enough to say the fundamental importance of this branch of industry in the Gabonese economy.

The first oil wells entered in working the years 1950, in the Ogooué-Maritime (Port-Gentil is the capital of oil) initially on ground, then, a little later, Off-shore. For a long time, Elf-Gabon and Shell Gabon shared the main part of the layers. These last years, a more significant number of oil companies could operate in Gabon.

Oil is a fundamental richness, but also a random richness. On the one hand, the production varies according to the exhaustion of the known tablecloths and the new discoveries. In addition, the courses of oil vary themselves. The Seventies brought to Gabon a true gold mine with the flight of the courses like production. That allowed a policy of great work Libreville, in particular. But the recession of the Eighties was only felt hard of it. Like other countries, Gabon was involved in debt and lowers it oil incomes complicated the refunding of this debt.

The increase of the courses and new discoveries (layer of Rabi-Kounga) allowed an inversion of the situation in the Nineties. Nevertheless the discoveries are done rarer. There remain deep water layers to be exploited, but their cost of working makes them less profitable than the first wells. Tensions appear between Gabon and the Guinea Equatoriale for the control of small islands without interest by themselves but whose water is potentially rich in oil (Mbanié).

Remain that Gabon will have to diversify its economy to face the inevitable decline of the oil production, the oil Pic having been reached into 1996/1997.

Variations of the oil production:

1957 : 176.000 tons
1964: 1.000.000 tons
1976: 11.325.000 tons
1985: 8.626.000 tons
1997: 18.500.000 tons
2002: 12.500.000 tons

The manganese and other richnesses of the basement

Exploited since 1962 by the COMILOG (Mining Company of OGooué), the Manganèse of the Haut-Ogooué is the second source of richness of Gabon, after oil. The manganiferous rocks being close to surface, the exploitation is done with open sky. A big logistic problem arose for the evacuation of the ore. It was necessary to build a 70 km length cable car to transport it to Congo-Brazzaville where the railroad then made it possible to bring manganese to the port of Point-Black. It is more not to have to pass by a Neighboring state that Gabon built its own railway line in the Eighties (the Transgabonais). From now on the manganese ore joined the port of Owendo, in the south of Libreville. Since 1964, the annual production approached the million tons to reach 2,5 million tons in 1989 and 2,8 million tons in 2005. Thanks to the mines of Moanda, Gabon is the second world manganese producer, behind the South Africa. The manganese ore of Gabon has a manganese content of 50% and the reserves are estimated at 27% of world reserves.

The die wood

The Equatorial forest which covers nearly 85% of the Gabonese territory has sheltered a gasoline, the Okoumé, abundantly exploited for one century, almost exclusively for export. The forestry development occupied until a third of the employee jobs in Gabon, before the rise of oil industry in the Seventies. In 1998, wood accounted for 14% more of exports of Gabon. Each year, 1,6 million m3 are exported, mainly towards China and France. The SNBG, National company of the Wood of Gabon, held the monopoly of the export of okoumé and ozigo until the end of the year 2005. Today, under the pressure of the IMF, the State Gabonais had to carry out the reorganization of this company and on January 1st, 2006, the SNBG entered the competing environment of the market of wood.

There exist three zones of exploitation. The first is near the rivers, mainly on the coast, so as to facilitate the evacuation of the balls by floatation towards the ports of Libreville and Port-Gentil. Then appeared the trucks timber trucks and the mechanization of transport made it possible to open logging sites inside the grounds, one reached the second zone of exploitation. Since the startup of the Transgabonais, in the Eighties, part of the barks is transported by the railroad: the third zone of exploitation could be reached here thanks to the railroad which made the access possible in the zones too much far away from the coast. The production of okoumé is partially transformed into Contreplaqué in Port-Gentil.

Since the Seventies, the courses of wood know fluctuations which make the exploitation more or less profitable. To endeavor to cure it, the forest companies diversify the marketed gasolines. Other wood like the ozigo, the sipo, aielé, the iomba, the apo, niové, the bilinga or the douka make their appearance whereas in the Seventies okoumé only represented with him more than 80% of the total production. An about sixty gasolines are of commercial interest.

Contrary to other countries of Africa, Gabon should be able to combine the exploitation of wood and the safeguarding of the forest, because of the weak population of the country. With the proviso of not overexploiting the resource, the Gabonese forest should be able to be regenerated naturally, the agricultural pressure being not very important. There exist agreements for the safeguarding of the environment which allot in particular 10% of the territory to natural reserves. But in this field, as in others, the financial appetites oppose the theory and reality.

Agriculture, breeding and fishing

Gabonese agriculture is developed little. It is primarily made up of food crops intended for subsistence farming (Banane plantain, Manioc, taro, Igname). The villagers sell their some surpluses at the market to gain a little money. They raise some poultries around their houses and consume Viande of bush, brought back by hunters. This system cannot make it possible to feed the increasing population of great urban centres like Libreville. Even if around the capital market gardenings and small animal breedings develop with commercial vocation, that is not enough. FAO estimates into 2005 that 60% of the vivres are imported (rice and meat in particular).

The cultures of revenue do not occupy a dominating place in the economy even if, under the impulse of Hevegab and Agrogabon, large plantations and the industrial breedings were created (palm oil, rubber, coffee, cocoa, sugar, fowl table, bovine meat). The bovine breeding is concentrated in savannas of the South Gabon, in the province of the Nyanga in particular.

Gabonese debt

The Gabonese debt rose in February 2007 to 2,5 billion dollars, including 1,1 billion towards France. Gabon tries n the other hand to obtain an agreement of the Club of Paris on the conditions of an advance payment of a rebate (reduction) from 15% to 20%.

The economic fabric of the small trades

The large companies which exploit the natural wealths of Gabon occupy the front of the scene, but it is not they which make live the majority of the inhabitants and who satisfy their daily needs. For that, there exists a crowd small trades exerted by small shopkeeper Gabonese but such immigrant craftsmen or of West Africa or central Africa. They offer their services at moderate prices, adapted to the resources of their customers. So well, that in Gabon, there exists a double-standard of consumption: that, with the European one, whose prices are comparable with those practiced in Europe, and that, with African, which makes it possible poorest to live. For example, one can eat a skewer with 5000 francs CFA in a smart restaurant or buy with the corner of the street a skewer (certainly smaller) to a travelling merchant for 500 francs.

Some current professions:

grocer of district: usually called " Malien" , even if it has nothing to do with this nationality, it offers in its small shop the basic commodities. Each housewife sends several times per day one of her children to the corner of the street to bring back soap, oil, Maggi cubes, Fanta or all other product which it can need in the moment. Large advantage of the Malian: he practices the credit… up to a certain point!

taximan : the taxi drivers collective play a vital part to allow the greatest number to circulate in Libreville or other cities. They drive cars of all kinds, more or less dented, but painted with the official colors of the taxis (red and white with Libreville). One can Heller and to propose a race or a half-race for 500,1000 to them or 2000 francs CFA according to the place where one wants to go. They accept or refuse according to whether it is on their way or not. If they accept, it is necessary to pile up with the four other passengers who occupy already the vehicle and to hope that a police control will not slow down circulation inopportunely.

clando : alternative of taximan which drives a clandestine taxi (from where its name). It is not really in competition with the official taxis insofar as it rolls especially on the not tarred roads where the taximen do not want to go. They are tolerated by the authorities considering their utility for the population.

driver and charger of minibus: in addition to the taxis which take you along anywhere, there exist minibuses which make more delimited ways. The passengers are piled up in the least place available. From where need for a " chargeur" to put everyone. This means of transport exists mainly in Libreville whereas there are taxis in all the cities of Gabon (yellow and white, for example, in Oyem).

tailor: many people buy loincloths to make clothing of them. They are tailors installed in small gravers which deal with you to sew a dress where a shirt to measure for a modest sum. Unimaginable in France! As often for Gabon, it is necessary to haggle on the price. The vain young girls are best placed for that…

salesman of skewers: in fallen the evening, Libreville, the roadside is invaded by these small merchants who propose braised skewers or fish to you, accompanied by banana, manioc or rice. Much Librevillois takes their meal thus. Sometimes it is necessary to be wary of the quality of the meats and of fish proposed but in general that makes it possible to eat well for expensive step.

small merchant: the markets abound salesmen in food products (bananas, manioc, pineapple, groundnuts, atangas, canes with sugar, meat of bush, silures, etc) and in clothing made on the spot or imported by the means of the bundles of secondhand clotehes shop from Europe in particular. The basic principle, it is that it is necessary to haggle on all, systematically, especially when one with the head of somebody who has money. The market of Mount-Bouet, in Libreville, is largest of the country and gathers hundreds of tradesmen in an inextricable tumble for which is not accustomed there.

See too

List of the Gabonese companies

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