• Gabon private sector credit rises 10.5%, dominates bank lending

• Government borrowing drops sharply; deposits fall, liquidity pressures grow

• Non-performing loans jump 21.4% as interest rates increase

Gabon’s private sector emerged as the main recipient of bank lending, according to a fourth-quarter 2025 economic outlook report from the Directorate General of Economy and Fiscal Policy.

Credit to the private sector rose 10.5% in the final quarter, accounting for 78.4% of total bank lending. The Ministry of Economy did not disclose the underlying amounts.

That pushed full-year growth in private-sector lending to 9.6% in 2025, driven mainly by electricity and gas, extractive industries including oil and mining, and agriculture.

Government financing declined over the same period, falling 35% in the fourth quarter. Public enterprises received limited funding, accounting for just 7.4% of total credit, despite a slight increase in their debt levels.

Despite the overall rise in lending and a modest 2.2% expansion in banks’ balance sheets, some indicators point to growing strain. Customer deposits fell 2.9%, signalling rising liquidity pressures on banks.

More troubling, credit quality deteriorated. Non-performing loans surged 21.4% in 2025, reaching 9.7% of gross credit, a trend that could make lenders more cautious.

These weaknesses come amid tighter monetary conditions. The Bank of Central African States (BEAC) raised its benchmark rate by 25 basis points in December 2025 to 4.75% from 4.50%, and kept it unchanged through the first quarter of 2026 to support monetary stability, amid declining foreign exchange reserves and a drop in the reserve coverage ratio to 67%.

Higher BEAC policy rates also pushed up borrowing costs across the Central African Economic and Monetary Community (CEMAC) by the end of 2025. According to the central bank’s latest monetary policy report, released after the April 2 meeting of its Monetary Policy Committee, the average lending rate rose from 9.71% in the third quarter to 11.50% in the fourth quarter.

Sandrine Gaingne