Gabon Passport

The Gabonese Republic (LaR é publique Gabonaise).

[Area] 268000 square kilometers.

【 Population 】 2.43 million (2023). There are over 50 ethnic groups, with the most populous being the Fang (32%) and Mpungwe (15%) ethnic groups. The official language is French. 50% of residents believe in Catholicism, 20% believe in Protestantism, 10% believe in Islam, and the rest believe in primitive religions.

【 Capital 】 Libreville, with a population of approximately 870000, is the political, economic, and cultural center and major port of the country. The highest temperature is 31 ℃ (January) and the lowest temperature is 20 ℃ (July).

Head of State: Brice Clotaire OLIGUI NGUEMA.

Independence Day (National Day): August 17th.

【 Overview 】 Located in central Africa, crossing the equator, bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the west, Congo (Brazzaville) to the east and south, and Cameroon and Equatorial Guinea to the north. The coastline is 800 kilometers long. It belongs to a typical tropical rainforest climate, with high temperatures and heavy rainfall throughout the year, and an average annual temperature of 26 ℃.

In the 12th century AD, the Bantu people migrated from eastern Africa and established some tribal kingdoms on both sides of the Ogoowe River. In the 15th century, Portuguese sailors arrived in the region. In the 18th century, it became a French colony. It was transferred to Germany in 1911. Returned to France after World War I. In 1958, it became an autonomous republic within the French Community. Independence was declared on August 17, 1960. Leon Mba was appointed as the first president. In 1967, Vice President Omar Bongo succeeded Mba, who had passed away, as President. After Omar Bongo came to power, he implemented a political policy of "democratic and consultative progressivism" and an economic policy of "led and planned liberalism", implementing a one party system and ensuring long-term political stability. In March 1990, a multi-party system was adopted and the political situation was turbulent, but Omar Bongo and the ruling Gabonese Democratic Party still maintained control over the regime. Omar Bongo was re elected as president in 1998. In 2003, a joint session of the House of Representatives and the Senate passed a constitutional amendment to lift the limit on the number of presidential reelection attempts. In 2005, Gabon held presidential elections and Omar Bongo won the presidency with 79.18% of the vote.

In June 2009, President Omar Bongo passed away in Spain. In August, Gabon held a new presidential election, and Ali Bongo, the son of President Omar Bongo, was elected president and inaugurated in October. The opposition questioned the election results and launched riots and violent demonstrations in a few cities, which were quelled by the authorities. At the end of 2011, Gabon held legislative elections, and Ali Bongo's Gabonese Democratic Party won 95% of the seats in the National Assembly. In December 2013, they won local elections with a significant margin. In June 2014, President Ali Bongo signed the Social Contract Charter with leaders of the Canadian opposition party, the presidential majority party, and three independent individuals, committed to improving people's livelihoods, eliminating poverty, and social inequality. In August 2016, Gabon held presidential elections, with Ali Bongo winning. Opposition candidate and former Chairperson of the African Union Commission, Jean Ping, disagreed and riots erupted in the capital and other areas. Jean Ping appealed the election results to the Constitutional Court. On September 24th, the Constitutional Court confirmed Ali Bongo's victory in the election. On the 27th, Ali Bongo was sworn in. From March to May 2017, Gabon held the "National Inclusive Political Dialogue", which resulted in multiple political dialogue outcomes, including the presidential and parliamentary elections being changed to a two round majority system, and the amendment of the electoral law. In October 2018, the legislative elections in Gabon were successfully held, with the ruling Gabonese Democratic Party winning by an absolute advantage. In August 2023, Gabon held presidential, parliamentary, and local "three in one" elections, and the Election Commission announced Ali Bongo's re-election as president. Subsequently, the Gabonese military launched a coup, announcing the cancellation of the election results, dissolution of all state institutions, end of the Bongo family's rule, establishment of the Transitional and Mechanism Restoration Committee, and elected General Bris Klotel Origi Nguima, Commander of the Republican Guard, as the chairman of the committee and transitional president. In September, Nguma was sworn in as the interim president and formed a transitional government.

The current Constitution is the third Constitution, promulgated on March 26, 1991. Eight revisions were made in 1994, 1995, 1997, 2000, 2003, 2011, 2018, and 2021. The Constitution stipulates that Gabon implements the separation of powers and a multi-party system; The President is the Head of State, with a term of 7 years, elected by direct universal suffrage and eligible for re-election; When the presidential position becomes vacant, the President of the Senate or the First Vice President shall act on behalf of the President and organize presidential elections within 30 to 45 days; The Prime Minister is the head of government appointed by the President.

The parliament is composed of the National Assembly and the Senate, both of which jointly exercise legislative power. Its main functions are to formulate laws, supervise government work, approve foreign declarations of war, and impose martial law for more than 21 days. Hold two regular meetings every year. The National Assembly is elected through direct and indirect elections, with a term of 5 years. The Senate is elected indirectly or nominated by the President, with 52 members elected and 15 members nominated by the President, serving a term of 6 years. The previous National Assembly was elected in January 2019, with a total of 143 seats, including 96 seats for the Gabonese Democratic Party. In August 2023, coup soldiers announced the dissolution of the National Assembly and Senate. In September, Transitional President Kwame Nkuma appointed members of the Executive Board of the Transitional National Assembly and the Transitional Senate. In October, the Transitional and Mechanism Restoration Committee announced the list of members and senators of the Transitional National Assembly, including 98 National Assembly members and 70 senators. Speaker of the Transitional National Assembly: Jean Fran ç ois NDONGOU, and Speaker of the Transitional Senate: Paulette MISSAMBO.

The transitional government was established in September 2023 and underwent a minor restructuring in January 2024. Including 1 Prime Minister, 1 Vice Premier and Minister, and 29 Ministers. The main members are: Prime Minister and Head of Government Raymond NDONG SIMA, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Planning and Development Alexandre Baro Chambrier, Minister of Institutional Reform Murielle Minkou É p MINTSA）， Michel R é gis ONANGA NDIAYE, Minister of Foreign Affairs, Sub regional Integration and Overseas Chinese, Brigitte ONKANOVA, Minister of Defense, Hermann IMMONGAULT, Minister of Interior and Security, Ulrich MANFOUMBI MANFOUMBI, Minister of Presidential Affairs and spokesperson for the Transition and Mechanism Restoration Committee, Adrien MOUGUGOU, Minister of Health, Cam é lia NTOUTOUME, Minister of National Education, Vocational Education and Civic Training LECLERCQ), Minister of Higher Education, Research and Technological Innovation Herv é Ndum Esengona É NDOUM ESSINGONE, Minister of Economy and State Equity Mays MOUSSIS, Minister of Public Finance Charles MBA, Minister of Petroleum Marcel ABEKE, Minister of Public Works Flavien NZIENGUI NZOUNDOU, Minister of Housing, Urbanization and Cadastre Ludovic MEGAN É, Minister of Energy and Water Jeannot KALIMA, Minister of Labour and Unemployment Adrien NGUEMA MBA, Minister of Public Service and Capacity Building Louis Buchan Louise BOUKANDOU, Minister of Agriculture, Livestock and Fisheries Jonathan IGNOUMBA, Laurence MENGUE ME ZOGHO, é pse NDONG, Minister of Information and Media and Government Spokesperson, Bonjean Fr é d é rik MBAZA, Minister of Digital Economy and New Information Technology, and Arcadie Svetlana Mingangji Ndomba é pse, Minister of Environment, Climate and Conflict Resolution between Humans and Nature NZOMA）， Andr é Jacques AUGAND, Minister of Culture, Youth, Sports and Arts; Maurice NTOSSUI ALOGO, Minister of Water and Forests; Lo ï c MOUDOUMA DINGA, Minister of Transport, Maritime Trade and Oceans; Pascal NGOWET SIFFON, Minister of Tourism and Handicrafts; Gilles NEMBE, Minister of Mines; Parfaite AMOUYEME OLLAME, Minister of Trade, Small and Medium Enterprises and Revenue Generating Activities; Nadina Natalie Awanan Ana, Minister of Social Affairs Nadine Natalie AWANG é pse ANATO, Minister of Industry Fran ç ois MBONGO RAFEMO BOURDETTE.

The country is divided into 9 provinces, with 48 prefectures, 27 special districts, 150 districts, 737 towns, and 2423 natural villages under its jurisdiction.

The judicial institutions include the Constitutional Court, Judicial Court, Administrative Court, Audit Court, First Instance Court, Court of Appeal, Supreme Court, etc. Courts at all levels independently exercise their judicial power in accordance with the law. All levels of courts have procurators who exercise prosecutorial power. The Supreme Judicial Council is the highest judicial administrative organ of the country, which decides on the appointment, dispatch, promotion, and punishment of judges. The President serves as the chairman and the Minister of Justice serves as the vice chairman.

The Constitutional Court is the highest legal institution responsible for determining the constitutionality of organizational laws, general laws, and regulations of state institutions, supervising elections and referendums, and announcing the results. In September 2023, the transitional president Nguma appointed 9 judges to form the Transitional Constitutional Court, with Dieudonn é Aba'A Owono as its president.

There are currently over 40 legal political parties, and the main political parties are as follows:

(1) The Gabonese Democratic Party (Parti D é mocratique Gabonais), PDG）： Established in March 1968, the party was founded by former president Omar Bongo. There are about 300000 party members. The purpose of the Party is "dialogue, tolerance, and peace", with the goal of "consolidating national independence, strengthening national unity, promoting democracy, advancing economic development and social justice, and maintaining peace". The National Congress is the highest body of the Party, and the Central Political Bureau and its Standing Committee are the Party's leading bodies responsible for implementing the resolutions of the Party Congress and the Central Committee. At present, the party chairman is vacant, and former Defense Minister and Member of Parliament Ngoma serves as General Secretary.

(2) Les D é mocrates: Founded in March 2017, founded by Nzouba NDAMA, former Speaker of the National Assembly. The goal of the Party is to establish a just, democratic, and free country.

(3) The Alliance for the Defense of Gabon (Rassemblement pour le Gabon), RPG）： Formerly known as the Rassemblement National des B û cherons, it obtained legal status in 1991. In the early days of the founding of the party, it advocated the use of violence to seize power, advocated free competition in the economy, and opposed state intervention. The chairman is Paul MBA ABESSOLE. In 1998, Abessole broke ties with First Secretary Pierre Andr é KOMBILA-KOUMBA and renamed the "National Union of Lumbers" as the "Union for the Defense of Gabon". Joined the presidential majority camp in 2002. In July 2009, Abessol announced his withdrawal from the presidential majority and participated in the presidential election. In August, he gave up running and instead supported another opposition candidate, Andr é MBA OBAME. After losing the election, he once again joined the presidential majority.

(4) Union Gabonaise pour la D é mocratie et le D é evelopment, UGDD）： In 2005, Zacharie Miyboto, former administrative secretary of the Gabonese Democratic Party, left the party and founded it. In 2006, the Ministry of Interior approved it as a legal political party.

(5) Union du Peuple Gabonais, UPG）： Established in July 1989 and obtained legal status in September 1991. Former chairman Pierre MambouNDOU ran for president three times in 1998, 2005, and 2009, all ranking second. He passed away in October 2011. In June 2014, the party held its first congress and elected Mouckagni IWANGOU as the new chairman, with a term of three years. But the party's executive secretary refused to recognize the election results and submitted the dispute to the Libreville Court of First Instance. In August, the first instance court of the Libreville court ruled that the party elections organized by Ivan Gu were illegal and his election as the party chairman was invalid.

Other political parties include: Restoration des Valeurs R é publicaines, Socieux-D é mocrates du Gabon, Rassemblement pour la patrie et la modernit é, Parti Social D é mocrate, Centre des Lib é raux R é formateurs, Union pour la Nouvelle R é publique, and others.

[Important Person] Brice Clotter Origi Nguma: Transitional President. Born in March 1975 in Nguni, Upper Ogoowe Province, Gabon, former President Ali Bongo is his cousin. Enlisted in 1997 and served as Vice President Omar Bongo from 2001 to 2009. Since 2009, he has served as a military attach é at the Gabonese embassies in Morocco and Senegal. In 2019, he was appointed as the Director of the Special Operations Department of the Republican Guard. Appointed as Commander of the Republican Guard in 2020.

Raymond Ndong Sima: Prime Minister of the Transitional Government. Born in January 1955 in Oyem, the capital of Wole Ntem Province in Gabon, he is of aromatic ethnicity. Master's degree in Economics from Paris XIII University and Master's degree in Econometrics from Paris IX University. Since 1991, he has successively served as the Chairman of Gabon Forest Company, General Manager of National Rubber Plantation Company, and General Manager of Gabon Railway Operation Company. In 2009, he was appointed as the Minister of Agriculture, Livestock, Fisheries, and Rural Development. He served as the Prime Minister from February 2012 to January 2014. In 2015, he withdrew from the Democratic Party and joined the opposition alliance in 2023. In September, he announced his withdrawal from the alliance and became the Prime Minister of the Transitional Government.

Due to its abundant production of oil, the economy developed rapidly after independence. The petroleum based mining industry has developed rapidly, while the processing and agricultural foundations are weak. Oil, manganese, uranium, and wood were once the four pillars of the economy. In 1985, the per capita GDP reached 3177 US dollars, making it the only "middle-income" country in French speaking Africa. In the late 1980s, due to weak oil prices, the economy was forced to sign an agreement with the International Monetary Fund to implement a structural adjustment plan. After 1995, the economy slowly recovered, foreign trade increased, and the international balance of payments improved. But in the late 1990s, the economy deteriorated again due to the impact of the Asian financial crisis and the decline in international oil prices, resulting in negative growth from 1998 to 2001. In recent years, the Gabonese government has actively implemented an economic diversification strategy, focusing on developing agriculture, forestry, fisheries, and tourism industries, actively developing non oil resources such as iron, manganese, and timber, and encouraging the development of small and medium-sized enterprises, achieving certain results. Since taking office in September 2023, the transitional government of Gabon has formulated the National Transitional Development Plan. The estimated main economic indicators for 2023 are as follows:

Gross Domestic Product: 21.8 billion US dollars

Per capita Gross Domestic Product: 8420 US dollars

Economic growth rate: 2.8%

Currency Name: Central African Financial Cooperation Franc (FCFA)

Exchange rate: 1 US dollar is equivalent to 605 Central African Francs

Inflation rate: 3.8%

【 Resources 】 Rich in resources, mainly including oil, wood, manganese ore, etc. The proven oil reserves are approximately 2.2 billion barrels. Manganese ore reserves amount to 200 million tons, accounting for a quarter of the world's proven reserves. The niobium ore reserves are about 400000 tons, accounting for 5% of the world's total reserves. The iron ore reserves are 800 to 1 billion tons, with a grade of over 60%. Other mineral deposits include phosphate, gold, barite, nickel, chromium, zinc, etc. The forest resources are very abundant, with a forest coverage rate of up to 88%, a forest area of about 23 million hectares, a exploitable forest area of 19 million hectares, and a log reserve of 400 million cubic meters. There are over 400 types of commercial trees in the country, mainly including Okumei and Ozigo trees. Among them, Okumei has a storage volume of 130 million cubic meters, ranking first in the world. There are 817000 tons of aquatic resources, including approximately 234000 tons of fishery resources (210000 tons of marine fish and 24000 tons of freshwater fish).

The mining industry, mining, metallurgical industry, forestry, and agricultural and sideline product processing industry are the main pillar industries. The petroleum based mining industry is an important economic pillar of Gabon. Oil development began in the early 1960s, with an annual production of approximately 10 million tons of crude oil.

It is an important producer of manganese ore in the world, with an annual output of about 8 million tons, ranking fourth in the world, and its export volume ranks among the top three in the world.

The timber industry is the third largest export industry after oil and mining. Starting from May 2010, the export of logs has been prohibited. In order to accelerate the development of the wood processing industry, the Gabonese government has established the Encock Special Economic Zone in the northern part of Libreville, covering an area of 1126 hectares, of which 40% is used to build wood processing plants. The annual output of logs is about 2 million cubic meters.

Agriculture, animal husbandry, and fishery have 5 million hectares of arable land with sufficient precipitation, with an annual rainfall of 1800 to 4000 millimeters. The agricultural production conditions, such as water, heat, and soil, are good. However, the development of agriculture and animal husbandry is slow, with less than 2% of the national land area already cultivated. Grain, meat, vegetables, eggs, and fruits cannot be self-sufficient. The main agricultural products include cassava, banana, corn, yam, taro, cocoa, coffee, vegetables, rubber, palm oil, etc. Palm oil is mainly produced by SIAT in Belgium and OLAM in Singapore. The fishery resources are relatively abundant.

The service industry developed in the early 1980s, with approximately 17.7% of the employed population.

There are over 3000 employees in the tourism industry. There are 5 large-scale travel agencies and nearly 100 hotels across the country.

Land transportation is underdeveloped, mainly relying on water and air transportation, and 90% of imported and exported goods rely on sea transportation. Gabon Transport Holding, a state-owned transportation holding company, was established in 2013 to manage the national transportation industry, coordinate various branch relationships, and promote the development of the transportation industry.

Railway: Only one route, built in 1986, connecting the port of Oviedo and the city of Franceville, with a total length of 814 kilometers.

Highway: with a total length of 10378 kilometers, of which asphalt roads account for 20%.

Water transportation: The total length of the water transportation route is 1600 kilometers, divided into two categories: sea transportation and river transportation. The main seaports include Gentil Port, Owundo Port, and Mayomba Port, with a total annual throughput of 25 million tons. Let Til Port mainly export oil, and Owundo Port mainly export logs and ores. In October 2017, the new terminal of Owando Port was put into operation, further enhancing its throughput capacity.

Air freight: With 44 public airports, including 3 international airports in Libreville, Port Gentil, and Franceville, it operates over 20 international routes to Africa and Europe.

[Telecommunication industry] is the Internet exchange center in Central Africa. The main mobile communication operators are Liberty, Celtel Gabon, and Moov, with Celtel Gabon having a market share of over 50%.

The estimated foreign exchange reserves are about $1.305 billion. As of 2023, the estimated public external debt is about 7.901 billion US dollars.

There are six banks in Gabon, including BGFIBANK, BICIG, UGB, Citibank, FINANCIAL BANK, and BDG. The top 5 are commercial banks, and BDG is a national policy bank.

The Caisse des D é p ô ts et Consignations (CDC) in Gabon was established in August 2010 as a public financial institution with a business nature, with a start-up capital of 10 billion francs aimed at revitalizing the country's economy and finance.

We have implemented a free trade policy and established trade relations with over 140 countries and regions. The main exports are oil, wood, and manganese, with the main export destinations being China, South Korea, the Netherlands, and Italy; Imported food, light industrial products, machinery and equipment are mainly sourced from countries such as France, China, Belgium, and the United States. The recent foreign trade situation is as follows (in billions of US dollars):