Growth last year was driven largely by the oil sector and public works, but the country remains heavily dependent on a narrow export base, with oil, manganese and wood making up 97% of total exports.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Speaking to Channel Africa on Thursday, Dr Tafadzwa Ruzive, Post\u2011doctoral Researcher at South Africa’s University of the Free State\u2019s Office of International Affairs, said Gabon\u2019s economy had shown resilience despite relatively low oil prices in 2024.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\u201cOil was between $60 and $65 a barrel then, about half of what it is now, and the economy was still producing growth. That shows robustness, though more must be done to diversify sources of growth.\u201d<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
However, the World Bank has raised concerns about the sustainability of Gabon\u2019s growth model. With oil revenues down in 2024 and public spending rising, the country\u2019s fiscal position has weakened, increasing the risk of liquidity pressures. Ruzive said Gabon\u2019s membership of the CFA franc zone heightens vulnerability to oil price fluctuations.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\u201cEach Dollar of oil revenue feeds directly into the fiscus. When oil prices fall, the budget is hit immediately, and because the country does not control its currency, it cannot cushion that shock. This is part of what has brought Gabon to a point where a liquidity squeeze is possible.\u201d<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Gabon has been pursuing an ambitious investment drive aimed at diversifying the economy, but Ruzive noted that large expansionary spending in the short term could limit the government\u2019s ability to service external debt. \u201cWhen you are a lender, and the borrower starts building instead of repaying, it signals that they may face repayment challenges when loans fall due.\u201d<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
The government\u2019s formal request for an IMF programme is widely seen as a move to restore fiscal discipline, bolster credibility and improve transparency in public finance. Such a programme could help Gabon strengthen expenditure controls, enhance revenue mobilisation and broaden economic reforms.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\u201cIt signifies that Gabon wants to stabilise its finances,\u201d Ruzive said. \u201cWith IMF support, the country can improve fiscal management, address governance gaps and attract investment needed for long\u2011term diversification.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
–ChannelAfrica–<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":28584,"template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false},"news-type":[44],"class_list":["post-28583","news","type-news","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","news-type-finance","entry"],"acf":{"short_description":"Gabon\u2019s request for an International Monetary Fund (IMF) programme underscores mounting fiscal pressures in the Central African nation, even as the World Bank estimates that the economy grew by 2.9% in 2024. ","published_date":"","news_description":"Gabon\u2019s request for an International Monetary Fund (IMF) programme underscores mounting fiscal pressures in the Central African nation, even as the World Bank estimates that the economy grew by 2.9% in 2024. ","form_embed":"","author":"","image_caption":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news\/28583","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/news"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news\/28583\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":28585,"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news\/28583\/revisions\/28585"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/28584"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=28583"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"news-type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news-type?post=28583"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}