By Enyichukwu Enemanna
With effect from 2029, Gabon will, as part of efforts to ramp up the capacity of local industry, cease exporting manganese, a critical component in the production of stainless steel and batteries, President Brice Oligui Nguema said in a statement published Saturday.
“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 statement quoted Nguema as ordering on Friday while addressing the Council of Ministers.
During the Council of Ministers meeting, it was also agreed that the ban on import of chicken meat will take effect from January 1, 2027.
In addition to wood and crude oil, the sale of manganese is a major source of revenue generation for the West African country grappling with a high poverty rate despite its mineral wealth.
The move by the 2.3 million-population country is aimed 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.
This is part of a broader campaign among African leaders to end imperialistic extortion and neo-colonialism that has left the continent largely underdeveloped despite rich mineral resources.
Nguema, a military officer turned politician, in 2023 led a coup that ended the nearly five-decade rule of the Bongo family.
He transformed himself from head of the interim government to an elected president in the April presidential poll in which he secured 95 percent of the vote.
During his inauguration, he said he was giving the mineral sector three years to make the necessary investments for the change.
According to the statement, this will also involve the setting up of a public-private investment fund to support the industry.
Like Gabon, Mali and Burkina Faso have also made efforts to ensure that their mineral resources are refined locally for increased value.
Both countries have withdrawn hundreds of mining licences held by foreign firms in recent months.
