• Seven Chinese firms plan industrial zone, manganese plant in Gabon
• Project supports 2029 ban on raw manganese exports
• Move aligns with strategy to boost local value addition, jobs

A delegation of seven Chinese companies recently met with Gabonese authorities to explore industrial opportunities. The firms expressed an intent to establish an industrial zone, including a plant dedicated to processing manganese, aligning with Gabon's policy of boosting local value addition to its natural resources.

"Our company's objectives and our implementation procedures align perfectly with your authorities' local manganese processing policy, which will take effect in 2029," said a representative from Inner Mongolia Xinchuan Metallurgy, a firm active in transforming manganese into alloys. "We plan to set up an industrial zone with a dedicated manganese processing factory."

Gabon’s Minister of Mines and Geological Resources, Gilles Nembé, said the initiative aligns with the national strategy, “which aims to make Gabon a competitive industrial hub in the mining sector."

As part of this strategy, the government plans to ban the export of raw manganese starting in 2029 to maximize local value addition. Until then, authorities are actively encouraging industrial investments capable of processing extracted raw materials domestically.

Currently, manganese produced in Gabon, primarily by Comilog (a subsidiary of France's Eramet group), is exported without any local transformation. The government aims to reverse this trend to strengthen the country's economic sovereignty and create jobs throughout the mining value chain.

The move by the Chinese firms follows a similar announcement in July, when a Japanese group revealed its intention to invest in building a processing plant in Gabon, the world's second-largest manganese producer.

SG