Gabon to ban export of raw manganese from 2029

BSS
Published On: 31 May 2025, 14:22

LIBREVILLE, May 31, 2025 (BSS/AFP) - Gabon will cease exporting manganese from 2029 as part of a plan to transform national industry, President Brice Oligui Nguema said in a government statement published on Saturday.

Selling manganese, which can be used in the production of stainless steel and batteries, is one of Gabon's main sources of revenue, alongside wood and oil sales.

Speaking on Friday to the council of ministers, Oligui ordered "the formal ban... from January 1, 2029, of the export of raw manganese, a strategic resource of which Gabon is the second largest producer in the world," the government statement said.

The move in the country of 2.3 million people, one of the richest in Africa, aims at developing "an ambitious industrial policy based on the local transformation of primary materials, an increase in the national workforce's competence, the mastering of technological value chains and the consolidation of tax revenues", the statement added.

Oligui, a putschist leader who overthrew the Bongo family dynasty before winning elections in April with almost 95 percent of the vote, said he was giving the sector three years to make the necessary investments for the change.

That will also involve the setting up of a public-private investment fund to support the industry, the statement added.

During the council of ministers meeting, it was also decided to ban the import of chicken meat from January 1, 2027.

Despite the country's riches, a third of Gabonese live in poverty with one in 10 suffering from a lack of food.     

  • Latest
  • Most Viewed
Ukraine proposes fresh peace talks with Russia next week
DR Congo, M23 armed group sign ceasefire deal
Lula slams US sanctions on Brazilian judges in Bolsonaro case
US tech CEO in viral Coldplay concert video resigns
Panamanian union leader flees for asylum in Bolivia
Syria interior ministry says Sweida clashes have 'halted'
Driver charged after plowing into Los Angeles nightclub crowd, injuring 30
Japan PM faces reckoning in upper house election
Hanoi scooter riders baulk at petrol-powered bikes ban
Sudan PM vows to rebuild Khartoum on first visit to war-torn capital
১০