|
|
| Fig. 1: Geography of Gabon. (Source: Wikimedia Commons) |
When considering West Africa, its conservation policies, natural resources, and their economic impacts, superpowers like Cote dIvoire and Nigeria come to mind. But few in this field consider the potency of the francophone nation, Gabon. Though Gabon is famous for its recoverable oil reserves, its topography provides royalties for the country. [1] One way in which the topography provides revenue in Gabon is that 75% - 80% of the land of Gabon constituting forest provides shelter and exportation products through the timbers available at the forest. [2] The forest serves good land for agriculture and, some parts of the forest contain deposits of oil. Furthermore, the presence of an almost perfect split between fossil fuels and hydropower is unique for a country that is so rich in resources to provide for both. According to UNEP, electricity produced in Gabon in 2015 was 199 ktoe with hydropower constituting 51.7 percent of the total energy and fossil fuels constituting 48.2 percent. [3] Gabon's total consumption of electricity in 2015 was estimated at 169 ktoe.
Though most oil-dependent, in recent years, Gabon has attempted to diversify its energy schedule by including hydropower generation. This is evident in its existing hydropower infrastructure and their plans to create new structures. The existing power stations include the Petite Poubara and Grand Poubara dams on Gabons main waterway River Ogoou; and two others on the Mbei river the Kingul and Tchimbl dams. [3] The plans for the future in Gabon is to add to it's existing infrastructure. The Chinese company Gezhouba Group Corporation (CGGC), in 2019, planned to construct two hydroelectric power stations in the nation to feed the electricity demand in the capital Libreville, located in the North West of Gabon (as shown in Fig. 1), considering China requires a lot of oil through exports for its economy. The contract was awarded to Meridiam, a Paris infrastructure development investor. Construction was scheduled to start in the second quarter of 2020, with commissioning scheduled for the end of 2023.
From 2011, Gabon produced 502 MW of electrical power through hydropower, though it has the capability of generating up to 6000 MW. [3] Gabon has extensive proven recoverable oil reserves, which were counted at 3,700 million at the end of 2011. [3] This has made it an attractive source of as an export market as is the case with countries nearby such as Nigeria. However, the dependence on hydropower has reduced the strain on oil for energy production within the country, aiding their exports. [4] The reasons why Gabon hydropower segment still produces far less than its full capacity are no different from other African countries. Gabon like every other country is plagued with macroeconomic forces like inflation, unemployment, which causes a dirge in economic attention. Also, the lack of creditworthy utilities, and a strong, transparent regulator of energy, raises a paramount issue. [1] Although, the presence of International Oil Corporation (IOCs) for energy production and upstream processes are still high, foreign investors are already taking note of the divesture in natural gas and petroleum towards hydropower as is evident in CGGC.
More still, in 2008, it took a loan from China to finance the construction of the Poubara dam, which has since 2013, has served the country to increase the amount of energy produced. Increasing the energy production of Gabon has allowed less reliance on oil, hence, more exports made available, so through the available resources, Gabon has increased their revenue. [4] The country still remains in debt currently, as it has embarked on other infrastructural projects for the nations development.
The conversation about energy diversification in Gabon is politicised. The Gabon Emergent Policy instituted according to international policy standards works on doubling the rate of improvement of its energy efficiency by 2030, and seeks to increase the share of renewable energy in the global energy mix. [3] Gabon has outlined its strategic planning to achieve this and drawn out its SDG's indicator (SDG - Sustainable Development Growth). The uniqueness of its topographic situation may present the country with a viable energy solution. [4]
© Temiloluwa Bolodeoku. The author warrants that the work is the author's own and that Stanford University provided no input other than typesetting and referencing guidelines. The author grants permission to copy, distribute and display this work in unaltered form, with attribution to the author, for noncommercial purposes only. All other rights, including commercial rights, are reserved to the author.
[1] E. Kebede, J. Kagochi, and C. M. Jolly, "Energy Consumption and Economic Development in Sub-Sahara Africa," Energ. Econ. 32, 532 (2010).
[2] W. F. Laurance et al., "Challenges for Forest Conservation in Gabon, Central Africa," Futures 38, 454 (2006).
[3] "Atlas of Africa Energy Resources," United Nations Environment Programme, 2017.
[4] "Gabon: Increasing Economic Diversification and Equalizing Opportunity to Accelerate Poverty Reduction," Report 150048-GA, World Bank Group, 26 June 20.
