Gabonese Vice Prime Minister Alexandre Barro Chambrier  

This year marks the 50th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and Gabon. The relationship between the two countries has become stronger over time, and the pragmatic cooperation is highly complementary and mutually beneficial.  

China has long been Gabon's largest trading partner. Projects such as the Gabon’s parliament building, the upgrading and transformation of the capital's power grid, and the Bubaha Hydropower Station, which were assisted and financed by China, have effectively promoted Gabon's economic and social development and improved people's livelihood. In April 2023, the two countries announced the establishment of a comprehensive strategic partnership. 

Enjoying friendly relations that go back a long way, Gabon and China have been constantly strengthening practical cooperation in various fields, Gabonese Vice Prime Minister Alexandre Barro Chambrier said, expressing that the two countries are partners on the path to modernisation and should be sincere friends with common ideals and beliefs, complimentary partners, and good friends working together for peace. 

Chambrier was in Beijing to attend the 2024 Beijing Summit of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation on 4-6 September. ChinAfrica sat down with the vice prime minister for an in-depth conversation.  

ChinAfrica: How do you view the present state of the relationship?  

Alexandre Barro Chambrier: It is time to build up the friendship, and make progress. At this time, we have new leadership with a vision, emboded by the President Oligui Nguema. It’s a vision with determination to really go beyond and multiply the commercial exchanges... Gabon has a realistic vision to become an area of prosperity and for that it needs growth and considerable public and private investment. We are in China to really convince people, to convince entrepreneurs to take this opportunity to invest in partnerships with Gabonese private sector. After 50 years, we have a vision to go further on the foundation of the relations. We believe that we know each other, we respect each other, and Gabon can be an important partner for China to jointly make products because as you know we have a lot of mineral resources. 

How can China-Gabon cooperation benefit the economy and improve local people's livelihood? 

As you know, with the new leadership of the President Oligui Nguema, we are open. And Chinese investments are welcome in Gabon. We really think that there is a need to do more on transforming the raw materials, and the economic zones need to be developed for that.  

But for this process to work, we need to invest in roads, trains, ports, and rivers for transportation of products. We need multi-modal investments which are going to be key for that purpose. For industrialisation, we have a huge potential as we are number one in the production of manganese, we have huge reserves of iron ore, and reserves of diamonds and gold.  

Since we are doing the very necessary reforms in our economy, the level of investment we are seeking will provide the growth which is needed to reduce poverty to create a middle class and to also reduce youth unemployment, which is a key concern for the country. 

These are really the directions that we want to go, and we have a business environment which is going to be improved and slowly the system is going to function better. We have stabilised the rules, and are offering some fiscal incentives to attract investors.  

Amid global uncertainties, what challenges and opportunities lie ahead of China-Gabon cooperation?  

China is the second-largest economy, and I would say it is also the most important economy. Each country has its tradition, and each country needs to progress by taking into account its culture. That’s what we intend to do. China is a source of inspiration. China is already playing a leading role in Africa, but there is still a huge potential for cooperation. We intend to transform our raw materials into sophisticated products. We intend also to improve the livelihood of our people.  

Gabon is part of a regional market, and some production could be based in our area with joint ventures between the Gabonese private sector and the Chinese private sector. We can also produce goods for export in areas where there is a demand. 

For example, 85 percent of our forestry is still unexplored. We can build final products of wood. We have a win-win relationship with China. We have a young population. We are also the continent of the future. But we have to take inspiration from China and invest in production. 

In 2018, Gabon and China signed a memorandum of understanding on cooperation within the framework of the Belt and Road Initiative, which creates opportunities to diversify the country's economy and improve people's livelihood. Since then, the two countries have strived to promote policy coordination, facilitate connectivity, financial integration and people-to-people exchanges. 

We need investment in infrastructure, as that is necessary for the development of other sectors.