• Eramet names Clément Jakymiw as Director of Gabon Value Chain Transformation.
• Move follows Gabon’s planned 2029 ban on raw manganese exports.
• Gabon produced 10.4 million tons of manganese in 2022, over 70% from Eramet’s Comilog unit.

French mining group Eramet, the main manganese producer in Gabon, announced yesterday the appointment of Clément Jakymiw as Director of Gabon Value Chain Transformation. The role was created a few months after the Gabonese government said it would ban exports of raw manganese starting January 1, 2029.

Jakymiw, who joined Eramet in 2023, previously served as Deputy Operations Director in charge of manganese ore. In his new position, the engineering graduate will report directly to Eramet CEO Paulo Castellari.

“The creation of the role of Director of Gabon Value Chain Transformation reflects the country’s industrialization and local processing ambitions, and continues the long-term partnership that has linked Eramet to Gabon for nearly 30 years,” Castellari said.

While Eramet’s stated goal is to develop a clear roadmap for Gabon’s manganese value chain, the exact scope of Jakymiw’s new responsibilities has not yet been detailed. When the export ban was announced in June, the company had already expressed its readiness to work with authorities to “identify new opportunities contributing to the country’s economic development.”

Eramet is already involved in manganese processing in Gabon, although most of the ore extracted is still shipped in raw form. Gabon produced 10.4 million tons of manganese in 2022, more than 70% of it from Comilog, Eramet’s local subsidiary, according to the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI).