Gabon

Over the years, AFD has supported several road infrastructure projects in Gabon, including the Ndjolé to Médoumane road and the Libreville to Owendo bridge. The focus has now shifted to the rail transport sector.

Since 2016, the Upgrade Program (Programme de remise à niveau, PRN) has enabled the partial rehabilitation of infrastructure and equipment along the Transgabonais, the country’s only railway line. The Transgabonais plays a key role in national connectivity, carrying around 300,000 passengers annually, and in the transport of 10 million metric tons of freight each year along a strategic corridor linking the capital, Libreville, to Franceville.

Despite promising initial results, significant additional public and private investment is still required. The Railway Modernization and Safety Program (Programme de modernisation et de sécurisation, PMS) aims to improve reliability and safety, and to increase traffic by restoring the line’s nominal capacity to 16 train paths per day. This will benefit all types of transport: passenger services as well as mining, forestry and general freight. A sovereign loan from AFD and a European Union grant delegated to AFD will support the corresponding public concession infrastructure.

Proparco, AFD Group’s private sector financing arm, also plays an active role in Gabon’s economy by supporting large-scale, high-impact projects. In addition to financing the superstructure of the Transgabonais line operated by SETRAG (Société d’Exploitation du Transgabonais), Proparco has also funded the CIMAF cement plant in Owendo. Proparco’s added value lies in its ability to offer loans with maturities of over seven years.

For the past 15 years, AFD has contributed to improving access to quality education and healthcare for people in Gabon.

In the education sector, AFD has been involved since 2016 in efforts to enhance teaching quality for 22,000 primary and secondary school students. This work is part of the Gabonese Education Sector Investment Project (Projet d’investissement dans le secteur éducatif gabonais, PISE), which has so far supported the construction and renovation of 15 schools in the Greater Libreville area. Another 12 schools are currently being built or expanded in Port-Gentil and Libreville.

The project also contributes to the development of a national policy for school maintenance, the creation and promotion of a guide to prevent violence in schools, an assessment of academic performance in Gabon, and the training of school principals.

Gabon is 89% covered by forest, home to exceptionally rich biodiversity. The country shelters more than half of the African continent’s forest elephant population. Its mangroves serve as breeding grounds for numerous species of birds, fish, crustaceans, and mollusks.

AFD has long been engaged in protecting this natural heritage, notably through a €60 million Debt Conversion Agreement signed in 2008. Projects financed by AFD have supported sustainable forest management, including wood certification and the structuring of the forestry sector. They have also strengthened Gabon's conservation policy by helping manage human-elephant conflict and supporting research on natural resources in parks around Libreville.

This work has continued with efforts to balance economic development, natural resource preservation, and respect for community rights. With financial support from the Central Africa Forest Initiative (CAFI), AFD has provided technical assistance for the development of a national land-use plan and a national forest monitoring system. These tools will help reduce deforestation and guide the expansion of key economic sectors such as agriculture, forestry, mining, oil, and infrastructure.

More broadly, AFD’s involvement in biodiversity protection in Gabon aligns with the country’s four main priorities under its Country Package: mitigating human-wildlife conflict, promoting the sustainable management of natural resources, supporting the economic development of natural capital, and advancing scientific research.

In support of Gabon’s Sustainable Development Goals, AFD also funds projects selected through calls for proposals targeting NGOs. Examples include:

1. The NGOs Actions de Solidarité Internationale, Reflet, Cœur de femmes, and Femme Lève-toi, which focus on strengthening social cohesion and promoting the social and professional inclusion of vulnerable young women
2. The conservation-focused NGOs Nada and Ngudu Dimbu, which receive support through the Small Initiatives Program, funded by the French Facility for Global Environment (FFEM) and implemented by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN)
3. WWF Gabon, which works on biodiversity-related challenges

In addition, more than 200 people (including several who have gone on to hold senior positions) have taken part in training provided by AFD’s training center, Campus AFD, formerly known as CEFEB.