The 25% Pivot: Inside Gabon’s Multi-Billion Dollar Plan to Build an African Mining Superpower

LIBREVILLE : Gabon is executing a high-stakes economic pivot to aggressively scale its mining sector into a primary economic powerhouse. Under the direction of Sosthène Nguema Nguema, the newly appointed Minister of Mines and Geological Resources, the Central African nation has launched an ambitious blueprint to raise mining’s contribution to national GDP from 6% to an unprecedented 25% by 2030.

As a country heavily dependent on fluctuating oil markets—which currently anchor nearly half of its GDP Gabon’s new strategy represents a foundational shift. The ministry’s message to global markets is definitive: Gabon will no longer operate as a passive, raw extraction site.

At the heart of Libreville’s new policy is a strict timeline targeting raw exports. The government has announced a comprehensive ban on raw manganese ore exports by 2029.

By mandating that raw ore must be processed locally before crossing its borders, the state expects to secure higher industrial margins, insulate its economy from raw commodity volatility, and generate a surge of domestic technical jobs. The state’s mining arm, Société Équatoriale of Mines (SEM), has been tasked with hitting a USD 1 billion revenue target under these new industrial guidelines.

To achieve its 2030 targets, Gabon is pushing ahead across three strategic fronts:

* Manganese & Iron Ore Scalability: Broad industrial expansions are underway at the massive Belinga and Baniaka iron ore projects to establish stable multi-commodity revenue streams.

* Gold Formalization: Structural overhauls are targeting key gold-bearing regions like Koumba, Eteke, and Minkébé to wipe out illicit artisanal trade and bring local extraction under formal regulatory oversight.

* Domestic Refining Power: Processing will be anchored by the Raffinerie Gabonaise d’Or (RGO) located in the Nkok Special Economic Zone, boasting a robust 10-tonne domestic refining capacity.

Minister Sosthène Nguema Nguema, a specialized Quality, Health, Safety, and Environment (QHSE) engineer by training, is leveraging his technical background to overhaul the sector’s administrative roadblocks.

The ministry is actively pushing decrees to clarify the 2019 Mining Code, deliberately cutting bureaucratic lead times for international exploration and extraction permits.

By combining rapid administrative processing with high-yield infrastructure projects, Gabon’s presentation at the upcoming African Emirati Business Summit (AEBS 2026) in Dubai moves beyond a pitch for investment—it serves as an active roadmap for a new era of sovereign African industrialization.