On 2 June 2026, Minister of Agriculture Pacôme Kossi presented to deputies a 700 billion CFA franc programme designed to achieve self-sufficiency in poultry meat from 1 January 2027. By that date, Gabon will end annual imports of 65,000 tonnes of frozen chicken. According to the FAO, Gabon consumes about 65,000 tonnes of chicken per year. Economist Louis Ndong stated clearly: “Achieving food sovereignty to lighten the household basket.”

AN ECOSYSTEM TO BUILD

Hervais Omva, president of the Zambia-based NGO IDRC AFRICA and an expert in poultry value chains, believes project success depends on building the entire production chain. “The president set the course. Now sector players must build the ecosystem upstream and downstream,” he explains. In his view, local maize and soya production is an essential condition. These two crops account for nearly 75% of poultry feed. “One of the main challenges will be to locally produce millions of tonnes of these grains,” he stresses. Job creation is also a major issue. “Some automated slaughterhouses can process up to 60,000 chickens per day with only about twenty employees. If the goal is also to reduce youth unemployment, a model adapted to local realities must be favoured,” he adds.

GABON BETTING ON AFRICAN INVESTORS

Libreville intends to mobilise investors from the continent to support this transformation. Following the call launched by Brice Clotaire Oligui Nguema during the Kigali summit in mid-May 2026, several African operators were received on 9 June at the presidential palace. The government indicates that the technical framework is in place and an investment bank is already operational. A senior official at the Ministry of Agriculture says “the various mechanisms will be deployed gradually.” In Port-Gentil, G.M., a breeder for about ten years with a 10,000-chicken operation, sees this policy as a major opportunity. “The potential is real, but moving to industrial production requires substantial investments,” he confides.

A SECTOR TO STRUCTURE

The Covid-19 pandemic and then the war in Ukraine reminded importing countries of their dependence on international markets. Gabon now wants to strengthen its domestic production to reduce this vulnerability. According to data from the Directorate General of Statistics, 54.6% of the Gabonese population is under 26. The youth unemployment rate is estimated between 30% and 38%, according to UNDP. Developing the poultry sector thus represents an agricultural, economic and social challenge. Hervais Omva addresses a message to young Africans: “The president has shown the way. Investors are ready.”