🇬🇦GabonCentral Africa
Gabon strengthens border security with UNODC partnership for container and passenger control program
via Gabon Review2 min read
On April 20, 2026, in Libreville, Gabon signed an agreement with the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime UNODC to implement a Container and Passenger Control Program CPCP. The initiative aims to enhance border security, combat illicit trafficking, and boost the country's economic attractiveness. The agreement was co-signed by Marc Abeghe, Minister Delegate for Economy and Finance in charge of the Budget, Ulrich Manfoumbi Manfoumbi, Minister of State for Transport, and Adrien Nguema Mba, Minister of Interior. The CPCP focuses on strengthening port and airport security, particularly in response to increasing transnational trafficking. The program includes establishing mixed control units in strategic infrastructures, with the first already being deployed at the port of Owendo. Beyond security, this system is expected to generate significant economic benefits by improving the detection of illicit goods and streamlining controls, thereby securing logistical chains and facilitating legal trade. The professionalization of agents through enhanced risk analysis and concealment detection training is also a key component. The agreement will foster real-time intelligence sharing with regional and international partners, improving intervention effectiveness and flow traceability. Marc Abeghe stated that this agreement reflects the government's commitment to international cooperation and coordination, aligning with President Brice Clotaire Oligui Nguema's vision for a competitive and
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The Minister of Housing, Mays Mouissi, visited the Bellambra Residence construction site in Akanda on Tuesday, July 21, 2026, to assess the progress of the work. This project, comprising 500 apartments, is the first phase of a 5,000-housing unit program under an agreement between the Gabonese state and the Addoha group. The initial buildings have reached the structural work stage, and the first keys are expected to be handed over before the end of 2026. The project, officially launched on May 6 in the presence of the Vice-President of the Government, is progressing according to schedule. Two buildings, containing 52 apartments and four commercial spaces, are already structurally complete, with a 70% reservation rate. Kampala Kaina, Addoha's General Manager in Gabon, announced the start of construction for nine additional buildings. The program targets civil servants, private sector employees, self-employed workers, and other eligible buyers for bank financing, offering two to three-bedroom apartments starting from 30 million CFA francs. To facilitate home ownership, mortgage loans may be granted for 15 years or more, subject to bank approval. The Ministry of Housing aims to enable eligible households to gradually replace rent payments with comparable mortgage installments. This initial deadline for key handovers will apply only to the first completed homes, not all 500 apartments in this phase. Mouissi's visit is part of monitoring the agreement signed on February 13, 2025, b
Must ReadA recent protocol signed between Gabon and the French mining group Eramet, following a ceremony at the Élysée, is being viewed with caution upon closer inspection. While initially perceived as a victory for Gabon, the agreement appears to offer Eramet considerable leeway. The protocol commits Gabon to providing electricity, whereas Eramet's commitments are primarily to study projects. None of the three proposed industrial projects are firm, with their implementation dependent on future investment decisions and subject to various conditions, including "formal final investment decision," "prior validation of technical, environmental, economic, and industrial conditions," and a "separate investment agreement." The flagship project, a 265,000-ton alloy plant announced for 2031, is explicitly conditional on securing energy and logistical conditions before any commitment. The agreement also grants Eramet autonomy in assessing project profitability, ensuring only "profitable industrial options" are pursued. This means that while the roadmap sets ambitions, the decision to realize them remains with Eramet's Parisian board at each stage. A critical aspect of the agreement is energy provision. The protocol acknowledges the fundamental importance of competitive energy access for industrial development in the manganese value chain, with Gabon agreeing to develop necessary energy solutions. Eramet and its subsidiary are exempt from investing in electricity production. Given the current st
Must ReadThe Campus Mbongui, an international summer school, will officially open on July 24 in Libreville, focusing on languages, indigenous knowledge, and ecology. Organized by the "Bantuphonie: endangered languages, indigenous knowledge and biodiversity" BLSB network, a UNITWIN/UNESCO Chairs program established in 2018 at Omar Bongo University, in partnership with the ECCAS Commission, the event brings together eleven countries, forty young researchers, and twenty international experts. The initiative challenges conventional conservation strategies by asserting that local languages and the ecological knowledge they embody are crucial for preserving biodiversity. The scientific framework involves four universities: Omar Bongo in Gabon, Yaoundé I in Cameroon, Marien Ngouabi in Congo, and Lumière Lyon 2 in France. Professor Patrick Mouguiama-Daouda, director of the Language, Culture and Cognition laboratory, coordinates the international effort. From July 27 to August 8, participants will engage in academic sessions and field immersions across the Congo Basin, exploring biocultural approaches, the interface between human and life sciences, and traditional ecological practices with local communities. Organizers emphasize that indigenous knowledge systems are dynamic and holistic, and ignoring them means losing a key to understanding ecosystems and ensuring sustainable biodiversity preservation. This approach also contributes to scientific sovereignty for sub-regional states as they neg