“We must transform at any cost…to create more jobs”

Transcript of the interview:

VOA:
Mr. Industry Minister, he often said that we have a processing problem in Africa, we export raw products. So what are Gabon’s programs and projects?

Pacome Moubelet-Boubeya, Minister of Industry of Gabon:

“It should be noted that the President of the Republic of Gabon, His Excellency Mr. Ali Bongo Ondimba, made an important decision to stop exporting raw materials and replace them. And one of the main decisions was the ban on the export of logs in 2010, which is a special economic resulted in the creation of zones, including specially designated zones for wood processing.

So we have seen Gabon go from being an exporter to being the first in Africa to the second largest producer of plywood in the world today. This means that this vision, this policy of implementation, put forward by the highest authorities of the country, is correct. We must transform at any cost, add more value, create more jobs.”

VOA:
How can the Gabonese government support the diaspora here in the United States?

Pacome Moubelet-Boubeya, Minister of Industry of Gabon:

“We are proud to discuss with the Gabonese diaspora who have already settled here. This diaspora, which is seen as the VRPs of Gabon. We must be able to use their experience, their experience, their connections here, so that at the Gabonese level we can create small and medium industries that will contribute to the development of our country.

You know that we are a country under construction. We consume many products produced abroad and our ambition is to reverse the trend. Therefore, we, this diaspora, hope that we will work together with him in what fields. Be it in the food industry, or in the field of pharmaceuticals, or in technology, all possible areas of development.”

VOA:
Mr. Minister of Investment, can we talk specifically about specific investments with the diaspora? Will a structure be created for this? How do you plan to program it?

Hugues Mbadinga Madiya, Minister of Investments of Gabon:

“Okay, thank you. I think we need to create exchange platforms first.

For a country like Gabon, investment promotion is important as we try to develop from the stage of a middle-income country to higher stages.

Under the leadership of His Excellency Bongo Ondimba, the head of state of Gabon, he implemented the transformation acceleration plan, a set of projects in various sectors.

This plan represents an investment portfolio of 3,000 billion CFA francs, therefore 6 billion dollars, in various sectors. Productive sectors: our traditional sectors such as timber, agriculture, fisheries, which are important sectors, as well as oil and mining, as well as basic needs in the field of infrastructure. Energy, without which there is no growth, but also everything related to road and rail infrastructure and so on. Hence, there are many investment opportunities.

We especially appreciated the exchanges with the diaspora, which is, of course, a player in this investment issue. Because investment, we’re not just going to think of it in terms of big international groups. The diaspora should also be an actor aiming to bring more investment to Gabon, because this is the key to transformation”.

VOA:
Ministers, are you satisfied with what has happened so far with the US government? As they say, how do you see a win-win partnership?

Pacome Moubelet-Boubeya, Minister of Industry of Gabon:

“This is a partnership that can only be win-win. We responded to America’s invitation. We presented with it our development projects, our global vision. This, as we say from time to time, was the vision of His Excellency Mr. Ali Bongo. Ondimba, the head of state.

There are many points of convergence, many points of alignment and support where we can further strengthen areas of investment, whether transformational or otherwise. And when I say transformation, I mean any kind of transformation. That is, how to support Gabon’s investment efforts with financing at the level of American financial markets. Above all, how can we ensure that we can mutually benefit from each other’s experience and expertise?

You know that the world is in constant motion, and that this movement, which has been accelerating for a little over a year, we must establish new important benchmarks. Especially today, the world is increasingly becoming a global village, where actions and connections must be strengthened and we must be able to win each other.”

VOA:
In industrial development, African countries are also asked to adapt to the energy transition, which is not always obvious in the end. Is it planned to take into account the energy transition and environmental protection at the industrial level? For example, to the forest, oil…

Pacome Moubelet-Boubeya, Minister of Industry of Gabon:

“You have to remember that Gabon is very committed to environmental issues and our commitment has already started in Rio. If we look at the elements of COP 21 in Paris, Gabon is very involved and the COP in Glasgow and the Sharm el-Sheikh COP, Gabon has always held very important positions, especially Gabon, through its president, is the African champion for adaptation issues. This means that the environmental issue is an imperative issue.

Gabon is part of the forests of the Congo basin, which has become the first lung of the planet, far above the Amazon. 88% of Gabon is equatorial forest. Today, Gabon absorbs more CO2 than it emits. It is one of the only carbon neutral countries in the world. So, you see, we are doing everything possible to not only continue to ensure industrialization and development efforts, but above all to have environmental protection, policies that are aligned with international discussions.

Except in Gabon, it’s not just an outlet. Moreover, the head of state of Gabon gave a very remarkable speech on this issue during the summit, saying that if we really want to keep our ambitions of a 1.5% increase in temperature, every country must exceed its commitments for 2040. , 2050, 2070, accelerating conservation and sustainability policies. In any case, as far as Gabon is concerned, sustainable development is imperative because future generations must be protected.

You know, going back a bit to the issue of the environment and the forests of the Congo Basin. If we do not protect the Congo Basin forests, the area will receive less rain; that is, we will feed the Blue Nile less. Imagine the consequences of the Nile River for Egypt and even greater consequences across the vastness of the desert. So this is a real impact and a concern for Gabon.”

VOA:
Minister of Investment, you are also responsible for public-private partnerships. Are we in the process of privatizing state-owned enterprises in Gabon, as elsewhere? What reforms are there at this level? If you can give some examples.

Hugues Mbadinga Madiya, Minister of Investments of Gabon:

“We have actually created a fairly comprehensive legislative framework that promotes public-private partnerships. Today, many projects are implemented in Gabon within the framework of this type of partnership. There is a special government unit that negotiates with the promoters of the creation of these partnerships.

We have also opened opportunities in certain sectors such as energy, for example with special codes, allowing independent power producers, investors to enter into the public-private partnership regime.

To give you an idea of ​​our investment strategy today, I have previously given you the equivalent of $6 billion. Two-thirds of this amount is expected to be realized through foreign direct investments, domestic direct investments and public-private partnerships. That is, it is an important standard for us.

Beyond this standard, the most important thing is to find the right balance, because what we want are investments that can create jobs. What we want are investments that respect us instructions In terms of technology transfer, in terms of environment, the state minister also said this.

So, to really answer your question, our country Gabon is ready to use this very modality. The law is ready, the portfolio of projects is ready. We are waiting for investors who want to come to Gabon and make a public-private partnership, and we are open.”

VOA:
Minister of Industry, we are talking a lot about food self-sufficiency in Africa, about the value chain at the level of food production. Are we planning to move to the industrial agri-food level?

Pacome Moubelet-Boubeya, Minister of Industry of Gabon:

“The issue of food security is a concern of almost all countries. We have seen this situation worsen with the Russia/Ukraine conflict; we have seen exceptional volatility in the prices of some products. This has led countries to question what is important to them, which is to strengthen food security .

Gabon, in turn, in the field of agriculture, provided arable land with a number of projects. We have a program, a national land allocation plan, and today it has made available to potential investors 25,000 to 28,000 hectares of land that will be there to support agriculture.

What we don’t want is to get into a situation where, as I told you before, we are going to cut down forests to do agriculture and thereby increase CO2 production. So we are in the context of building an integrated agriculture so that hypothetically the crops to be selected can be aligned with the environmental and conservation projects that we have.”

VOA:
Ministers, thank you very much for accepting this interview with VOA Afrique.

Pacome Moubelet-Boubeya, Minister of Industry of Gabon:
“We are the ones thanking you.”