Incentive for foreign direct investment in Gabon

Gabon’s government is keen to continue attracting foreign direct investment (FDI). In July 2012, Gabon released President Ali Bongo Ondimba’s Strategic Plan for an Emerging Gabon (PSGE), an ambitious blueprint for developing Gabon into an emerging economy by 2025, by diversifying the country away from its reliance on energy exports and transforming Gabon into an internationally competitive investment destination. The plan calls for increased public and private investment, modernized infrastructure and improved human resources. The government understands that FDI will help it achieve its development goals.

The Gabonese government has taken several measures to strengthen public investment management and the transparency of infrastructure development. Priority sectors for the government include transportation, housing, public facilities, tourism, energy, education, healthcare, ports and other large infrastructure projects. Some projects have already been completed, but due to economic difficulties in the past three years, state investment had to be reduced, so there is now a higher demand for public-private partnerships (PPPs), which are notably profitable to Chinese investors in Gabon. China became the first commercial partner of Gabon for the first time in 2017.

Compliance with international investment framework. Gabon’s 1998 investment charter conforms to Central African Economic and Monetary Community’s (CEMAC) investment regulations, providing the same rights to foreign companies operating in Gabon as to domestic firms. Businesses are protected from expropriation or nationalization without appropriate compensation that is determined by an independent third party.