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Gabon: Economic Outline

Economic Indicators

With a low level of diversification, the Gabonese economy has recorded a steady growth in 2011, mainly due to the high price in oil since Gabon is the fourth producer of oil in the Sub-Saharan region and also to the production of manganese. This growth rebound was also due to the revival of global demand and the arrival of Chinese investors. However, the IMF anticipates a contraction of this growth in 2012.

Gabon draws most of its revenues from oil which represents 45% of its GDP, 80% of its exports and 50% of the state's income. The forestry industry is the the second economic sector of the country and the main employer. The year 2011 was marked by the opening of a special economic zone for timber, close to the capital Libreville, in order to support the development of a local industry in timber transformation. The mining sector represents another development approach with projects on iron and uranium.

Gabon is a member of the Economic and Monetary Community of the Central African States -CEMAC- (official site in French) and one of its pillars is the Monetary Union of Central Africa which issues for six country members a common currency, the CFA Central African Franc (XAF) which have a fixed exchange rate to the Euro. The country is also a member of the Economic Community of Central African States -ECCAS- (official site in French) on which the economic integration of ten state members seems difficult to achieve.

Being aware of its dependence to raw materials and a lack of diversity in its economy, Gabon wishes to relaunch the cultivation of cacao and coffee and its ambition is to become the first African producer of palm oil by 2017, with an investment of USD 800 million. The authorities hope to improve the business climate by fighting against corruption, increasing public investments, re-balancing its public finance system and launching large working projects in the electric energy, airport  and road infrastructures, and stabilizing its water problems (water cuts). The government is also engaged in the development of Eco-tourism.

Gabon is classified as a middle-income country with a GDP per capita above its neighboring countries. However, it ranks 106 out of 187countries in the UN index of human development, the social indicators are not up to the level of the country's wealth. The poverty rate is high since one-fifth of the population lives with less than USD 2 per day and the unemployment affects 30% of the young workers, half of the population is under 19 years old. In addition, the country is highly affected by the AIDS virus.

 

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Indicator of Economic Freedom

Score:

56.7/100

Position:

Mostly unfree

World Rank:

105/179

Regional Rank:

18/45

Distribution of Economic freedom in the world
Source: 2011 Index of Economic freedom, Heritage Foundation

Note: The Economic freedom index measure ten components of economic freedom, grouped into four broad categories or pillars of economic freedom: Rule of Law (property rights, freedom from corruption); Limited Government (fiscal freedom, government spending); Regulatory Efficiency (business freedom, labor freedom, monetary freedom); and Open Markets (trade freedom, investment freedom, financial freedom). Each of the freedoms within these four broad categories is individually scored on a scale of 0 to 100. A country’s overall economic freedom score is a simple average of its scores on the 10 individual freedoms.

 

Country Risk

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Indicator of Political Freedom

Ranking:

Not Free

Political Freedom:

6/7

Civil Liberties:

5/7

Map of freedom 2010
Source: Freedom House

Note: The Indicator of Political Freedom provides an annual evaluation of the state of freedom in a country as experienced by individuals. The survey measures freedom according to two broad categories: political rights and civil liberties. The ratings process is based on a checklist of 10 political rights questions (on Electoral Process, Political Pluralism and Participation, Functioning of Government) and 15 civil liberties questions (on Freedom of Expression, Belief, Associational and Organizational Rights, Rule of Law, Personal Autonomy and Individual Rights). Scores are awarded to each of these questions on a scale of 0 to 4, where a score of 0 represents the smallest degree and 4 the greatest degree of rights or liberties present. The total score awarded to the political rights and civil liberties checklist determines the political rights and civil liberties rating. Each rating of 1 through 7, with 1 representing the highest and 7 the lowest level of freedom, corresponds to a range of total scores.

 

Indicator of Freedom of the Press

World Rank:

101/179

Evolution:

6 places up compared to 2010

Source: Worldwide Press Freedom Index 2011, Reporters Without Borders

Note: The world rankings, published annually, measures the violations of press freedom worldwide. It reflects the degree of freedom enjoyed by journalists, the media and digital citizens of each country and the means used by states to respect and uphold this freedom. Finally, a note and a position is assigned to each country. To compile this index, Reporters Without Borders (RWB) prepared a questionnaire sent to partner organizations,150 RWB correspondents, journalists, researchers, jurists and activists of human rights, including the main criteria - 44 in total - to assess the situation of press freedom in a given country. It includes every kind of direct attacks against journalists and digital citizens (murders, imprisonment, assault, threats, etc.) or against the media (censorship, confiscation, searches and harassment etc.).

Sources of General Economic Information

Main Online Newspapers and Portals

Gabon News
Allafrica, Gabon News
Afrol, News Gabon
Gabon Newspapers and News Media Guide

Useful Resources

Ministry of Economy, Finance, Budget & Privatisation
Bank of Central African States

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Last Updates: May 2012