Gabon’s vast natural resources and young, largely urban population hold a significant economic potential. However, mounting fiscal pressures, learning and skills deficits, and a labor market unable to match educated youth with quality jobs underscore the urgency of fiscal, economic, and education reforms. The 2026 Gabon Economic Update assesses the country’s recent macroeconomic developments, with this year’s special topic focused on education and skills development for jobs. The report makes the case for a dual strategy: restoring fiscal stability and improving the business climate, while reforming education and skills to build a more diversified, inclusive, and job-rich economy.
Main findings
- Gabon has a strong growth potential, with plentiful natural resources, a young urban population, and major diversification opportunities, yet the country’s growth model is under pressure and not yet delivering sufficient broad-based gains for its people.
- Fiscal and debt risks have become the central challenge, with a strong deterioration in the fiscal position in 2025. Restoring fiscal discipline, improving revenue mobilization, aligning spending goals with available fiscal space, and strengthening debt transparency and management are among the key urgent public policy priorities.
- As identified in Gabon’s new development plan, the Plan National de Croissance et Développement, longer-term growth and development goals depend on enabling private investment, developing skills, and promoting job creation to reduce the country’s high unemployment, which affects at around 17 percent of the working age population and around 30 percent of youth.
- Reforms are needed to create better business conditions, more competitive firms, and an education and technical and vocational education and training system that equips workers with strong foundational, technical, and job-relevant skills aligned with labor-market demand and the needs of strategic sectors.
Key recommendations
- Rationalizing tax expenditures and expanding the Digitax digital platform to broaden the revenue base.
- Containing public spending, clearing arrears, improving public investment selection and management, and ensuring that spending is aligned with available fiscal space to ensure a sustainable fiscal and debt path.
- Reducing trade barriers -including one of the world’s highest tariffs and improving the business climate to crowd in private investment and support diversification.
- Prioritizing foundational learning by investing in teacher training, school infrastructure, and early-grade literacy and numeracy.
- Ensuring adequate funding for education and training, while redesigning technical and vocational training as a demand-led system, with the private sector co-shaping curricula, offering apprenticeships, and co-governing training institutions.
- Establishing an Education Management Information System and a Labor Market Information System to anchor policy making in real-time evidence.