African Development Bank addresses project delays and performance issues in Gabon
The African Development Bank Group's portfolio in Gabon, valued at $658.62 million across nine projects and fourteen financing instruments as of June 30, 2026, is facing persistent execution delays despite some recent improvements. Sovereign operations account for 86% of this portfolio. A review in June 2026 revealed a cumulative disbursement rate of only 29.5%, an average project age of 6.3 years, and a high level of at-risk projects, though this decreased from 67% in January to 38% in June 2026. To address these challenges, the AfDB's country office in Gabon, in partnership with the Gabonese government, organized an institutional capacity building workshop and a fiduciary clinic in Libreville from July 27 to 31, 2026. The training session involved around forty participants from project management units, the Court of Accounts, and the Ministries of Industry and Local Transformation, Budget, and Agriculture. The objective was to enhance technical, fiduciary, and operational skills in areas such as procurement procedures, financial management, disbursements, monitoring and evaluation, and project cycle management. Minkailou Halidoule Tour茅, the country program officer, emphasized that the clinic aimed to strengthen understanding of the Bank's rules and procedures. Identified issues include procurement delays, slow disbursements, inadequate operational planning, insufficient quality of submitted documents, delays in audit reports, and weaknesses in monitoring and evaluation. Th
