"LE GABON ENERVANT" OR "ANNOYING GABON"

English version  Gabon has been pumping oil out of its ground for decades, and yet its motorists were once again queuing for fuel in early October 2026. This paradox places our country in a very exclusive club: oil producers unable to keep their pumps supplied. A club no one should ever aspire to join. In late September and early October, several service stations in the capital ran out of diesel for days. Drivers were showing up as early as 6 a.m. in the hope of getting the precious liquid. Relief came from the sea. On Sunday, October 4, the Gabonese Petroleum Products Storage Company (SGEPP) announced a gradual return to normal after a vessel carrying around 30,000 m³ of fuel docked at Owendo. A second ship is expected on October 7. The Director General of Downstream Oil and Gas, Thibault Gaël Idoumi, offers three explanations: disruptions to maritime transport, the scarcity of refined fuel on certain markets, and storage capacity that remains insufficient. In other words, Gabon w...

English version  Lagos and Libreville are both reclaiming land from the sea to build their new business districts. But does the resemblance end there?  In Lagos, the flagship project is driven by a private group of Lebanese origin; in Libreville, the Baie des Rois remains in the state's hands on paper, at least for now. So who will own our capital's seafront tomorrow? In Nigeria, the project is Eko Atlantic, a new city built on land reclaimed from the Atlantic, next to Victoria Island. It is not the whole Lagos waterfront, but it is its showcase. The developer is South Energyx Nigeria, a subsidiary of the Chagoury Group, owned by Lebanese-Nigerian brothers Gilbert and Ronald Chagoury. The arrangement is a public-private partnership: Lagos State granted the concession, and the private developer reclaims the land and then sells plots to investors. In other words, a private actor controls the site's development and sale, under contract with the public authorities. In Librevill...