Long a symbol of “Françafrique”, Gabon, the scene of a coup attempt since Wednesday, August 30, does not have the economic weight of its political reputation. This country of 2.4 million inhabitants has a modest place in trade with France, even if some large companies have had activities and interests there for several decades, such as the oil company TotalEnergies and the mining group Eramet.
TotalEnergies ensures that its ” priority “ is D’“ensure the safety of its employees and operations”. The group has only 350 employees in Gabon. Through its listed subsidiary TotalEnergies EP Gabon, it extracts 17,000 barrels per day, far behind Nigeria (204,000) and even Congo-Brazzaville. It also operates 45 service stations, a very small share of the 4,700 stations it has on the continent.
TotalEnergies is not the only French oil company in Gabon. Companies such as Maurel & Prom or Perenco are buying up deposits in the advanced phase of depletion (depletion) and continuing the production of black gold abandoned by the majors, essentially TotalEnergies and the Anglo-Dutch Shell. Maurel & Prom thus announced, in mid-August, the takeover from the investment company Carlyle of the oil company Assala Energy, active in Gabon, for 730 million dollars. He claims to continue his activity.
The most strategic
But Eramet, which specializes in the extraction and export of manganese and nickel, remains the most strategic French company, and therefore the most exposed. The group employs 8,000 employees directly or through subcontracting – 98% of Gabonese, says a spokesperson. After suspending its activities on the morning of Wednesday August 30, the company announced their gradual resumption at the end of the afternoon. The transport of ores, provided by its subsidiary Setrag, which operates the Transgabonais railway crossing the country from east to west, was to resume in the evening, and production, Thursday morning.
The sudden deterioration of the political situation in Gabon is bad news for Eramet at a time when manganese and nickel prices remain depressed. After having invested heavily in recent years, its subsidiary Comilog now provides 90% of the country’s manganese production thanks to the Moanda mines, the largest in the world. This effort has made Gabon the world’s second largest producer of this raw ore, essential in alloys, especially for steel, and increasingly used for electric vehicle batteries. To the point that the European Commission has classified it in the twenty-three critical raw materials for the energy transition.
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