Emerging Timber Resource

The West Central African nation is a treasure trove of sustainable natural resources, and offers vast opportunities in furniture manufacturing.

Gabon lies on the Equator, bordering the Atlantic Ocean to the west, Cameroon and Equatorial Guinea to the north and the Republic of the Congo to the south-east. It is a picturesque and natural resource-rich country in West Central Africa.

Gabon’s climate is classified as equatorial tropical, with an extensive rainforest system covering almost 88% of the territory. Libreville is the major urban area of the country, comprising one-third of the population. Port-Gentil, Franceville, Oyem and Lambarene are its other major cities.

Gabon gained its independence from France on August 17, 1960, and the country enjoys grand political and social stability. At the end of 2014, it was awarded the best assessment in the CEMAC (Economic Community of Central African States) zone with a ‘B’ rating for country risk, and a ‘C’ rating for business environment.

It is, therefore, ranked in the same class as Italy for country risk and as Argentina for business environment. Gabon is ranked second as per UNDP’s (United Nations Development Programme) 2014 Human Development Index in sub-Saharan Africa.

Gabon enjoys a per capita income four times that of most sub-Saharan African nations. Since its independence, Gabon’s economy largely depended on the exploitation of natural resources such as timber, manganese and uranium, until oil was discovered offshore in the early 1970s.

Economic progress

The economy was reliant on oil for about 50% of its GDP, about 70% of revenues, and 87% of goods exports for 2010. Despite the monopoly of the oil sector, the timber industry remained an important and reliable source of profits. Gabon has an important reservoir of quality wood and timber exports are the second source of income and account for approximately 6% of GNP.