Gabon achieved a moderate score in EITI implementation

The Secretariat's assessment is that Requirement 1.5 is fully met. The MSG’s self-assessment is that they have only partly met the objective of ensuring that annual planning for EITI implementation aligns with national priorities and that the work plan outlines realistic activities developed through consultations with government, industry, and civil society constituencies. The Secretariat, however, considers this objective fulfilled, as the annual work plan adequately reflects the priorities identified in the multi-year work plan and translates them into actionable steps. The 2024 work plan is integrated into a well-designed and comprehensive three-year action plan spanning 2022 to 2024. The work plan includes activities for publishing and disseminating EITI Reports, MSG governance and stakeholder participation. The plan includes several capacity-building activities for MSG members, companies and government. The link between the activities in the multi-year work plan and the most recent annual work plans (2023 and 2024) is clear regarding activities in key areas of EITI implementation, such as transparency in oil and gas revenues, pollution, and SOE governance. The 2024 work plan is fully costed and time-bound, totalling USD 780 000 USD, with planned full funding by the government for all activities considered. In practice, the total budget is not made available in full and stakeholders noted recurrent weaknesses in the government funding of the work plan activities and EITI in general with cuts and delays for the period 2021-2024, which caused several activities to be cancelled. The 2024 work plan and the multi-year action plan were developed with input from all constituencies and beyond. Stakeholder consultations found that the process for preparing the multi-year action plan and the annual work plan update was transparent and inclusive, incorporating the views of members of each constituency. Stakeholder consultations on the objectives of the work plan were conducted. Thorough online consultations have been conducted in September 2024 to prepare the 2025 work plan. The 2023 and 2024 work plans make connections to national priorities. They reference the objectives of the broad National Development Plan (the 2025 government roadmap), as well as the oil and gas and mining roadmaps from the National Acceleration and Transformation Plan 2021-2023, aiming to strengthen the extractive sector’s significance for the economy, particularly in developing the mining sector, but also the transparency of the oil and gas sector and the inclusion in the budget of all revenue flows. However, while the National Development Plan highlights the relevance of anticorruption, the work plan does not link activities to this thematic area. Chapters 21 and 22 of the National Development Plan focus on the oil and gas mining sector, emphasising the need to maximise the numerous natural resources of Gabon and to develop the mining sector. Environmental impact mitigation, despite being a topic of importance for civil society, could benefit from more attention in the work plan and EITI publications. Despite these weaknesses, the Secretariat is of the view that the overall objective of ensuring that annual EITI planning aligns with national priorities for the extractive industries is met. The annual work plan seems to be the result of consultations with the broader constituencies, with priorities for EITI implementation regularly revisited. The 2024 action plan makes clear references to the follow-up of recommendations and has formulated actions in the work plan based on their tracking of the status of recommendations from the Validation and previous EITI Reports, as well as IMF Reports.

The Secretariat’s assessment is that Requirement 7.1 is fully met. The MSG’s self-assessment, reported in the ‘Stakeholder engagement’ template considered that the objective to enable evidence-based public debate on extractive industry governance through active communication of relevant data to key stakeholders is mostly met. The International Secretariat, however, considers that the objective is fulfilled given that several activities were undertaken to disseminate EITI Reports in local languages, and the findings of the oil and gas project costs were covered in the media. Civil society MSG members regularly publish statements on the governance of the extractive sector, although there is room for stepping up efforts, such as covering topics of national interest related to the extractive sector in MSG discussions, such as the recent acquisition of Assala Energy by GOC. EITI Reports released during the reviewed period (2021-2024) were posted on the Gabon EITI website. Although the MSG did not generate written summaries of EITI Reports, it conveyed findings through dissemination missions with the participation of all constituencies . All the information contained in EITI Reports is also available in open format on a dedicated platform, in a clear and accessible format for the public. Dissemination of EITI activities had a slow start due to the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic, but there are indications of active dissemination events during the period 2021-2024 where civil society and the press were involved. Several stakeholders cited financing and resource constraints as barriers to further dissemination and awareness activities in particular, due to the challenges in the disbursement of funds by the government, but expressed overall satisfaction with current communication efforts. Constituency representatives contributed to Gabon EITI's communication efforts through an analysis of oil and gas project costs published in December 2023, With this thematic report and another one examining contract transparency in Gabon published in 2023, there is evidence of the EITI and civil society in particular, tackling the most relevant topics in the extractive sector for the country. In preparation for the second EITI Report, the MSG and national secretariat engaged various stakeholders (with the 2021 EITI Report as the main reference) to establish a diagnostic on the disclosure of contracts in the extractive sector and propose recommendations to progress towards contract publication. Some contracts in the forestry sector are now available, as well as those in the oil and gas and mining sectors. Through the project, Gabon EITI facilitated workshop events supported by civil society and government representatives. Some stakeholders noted an attempt to discuss the recent nationalisation of Assala Energy (2024) but this topic is yet to be put for discussion at the MSG level. The Validation template notes a lack of direct use of extractive data by MSG members, despite demand from various stakeholders. For instance, local governments (Njolé region) asked about production in their region to determine the amount of subnational contribution it is entitled to. Gabon has launched the TNIM-SIEGA award to strengthen its communication and data use by a broader audience. The national secretariat includes a communication team tasked with overseeing communications and designing a Communication Strategy as included in the triennial Work Plan. In practice, there is documentation of press articles and radio programs where EITI stakeholders discuss and raise awareness about transparency in the extractive industries. There is ample evidence of the MSG explicitly considering the information needs and access challenges of different stakeholder groups. Gabon EITI appears to have prioritised outreach to civil society, including communities hosting extractive activities. Stakeholder consultations unanimously highlighted the need for capacity building at the local level to facilitate increased use of EITI data and findings, such as contract literacy for local stakeholders.

The International Secretariat’s assessment is that Requirement 7.2 is fully met. The MSG’s self-assessment, reported in the ‘Stakeholder engagement’ template considered that the objective of enabling the broader use and analysis of information on the extractive industries, through the publication of information in open data and interoperable formats as mostly met. The Secretariat considers that the objective has been fully achieved, even though an open data policy of EITI Gabon has not yet been adopted. Gabon EITI has prepared a draft open data policy. In practice, Gabon ensures that data in the figures and tables of the PDF versions of the EITI Reports are republished in open format (Excel). Summary data files are regularly submitted. In addition, the national EITI website includes an open data platform where information for each module and requirement are labelled, and disclosed in searchable open format (xlsx). This platform also includes recommendations related to each weakness identified by the MSG in the government and company disclosures, as well as the certification reports from the Supreme Audit Institution on the data submitted for each year. There are opportunities for increasing the volume of data available in an open format through systematic disclosures, and both government and extractive companies have limited availability of extractive sector data published in an open format.

The Secretariat’s assessment is that Requirement 7.3 is fully met. Consulted stakeholders expressed differing views on the extent to which the objective of this requirement—ensuring that EITI implementation serves as a continuous learning process contributing to policymaking—has been achieved. Those who considered the objective fully met highlighted recent progress, such as the publication of contracts. Conversely, other stakeholders believed that concrete steps remain to be taken in several policy areas to ensure that recommendations aimed at strengthening government systems and natural resource governance are implemented in practice. The MSG’s self-assessment, reported in the ‘Stakeholder engagement’ template considers the objective as mostly met. The Secretariat considers that Gabon has fulfilled the requirement’s objective, as the MSG regularly reviews findings and recommendations from the EITI process and takes action on those it identifies as priorities. The MSG has undertaken significant efforts to strengthen the impact of EITI implementation. It has set up a systematic approach to follow up on recommendations from EITI reporting or Validation through the work of the EITI national secretariat. This work includes an overview of the implementation of recommendations and identifies remedial actions. The MSG has compiled the recommendations dating back to 2021 as part of its preparation for the 2022 EITI Report. The MSG’s impact assessment notes that there has been slow progress in practice to implement relevant EITI recommendations, with most of these recommendations yet to be implemented. The MSG has successfully engaged with stakeholders to ensure implementation of some of the recommendations including at senior political levels such as meetings with relevant Ministers around the EITI recommendations, notably on contract transparency. Follow-up on recommendations is one of the key pillars of the 2024 EITI work plan.

The Secretariat’s assessment is that Requirement 7.4 is fully met. The MSG’s self-assessment, reported in the ‘Stakeholder engagement’ template considered this requirement which is to ensure regular public monitoring and evaluation of implementation, including evaluation of whether the EITI is delivering on its objectives, with a view to ensuring the EITI’s own public accountability, as mostly met. The International Secretariat considers the objective fulfilled given that all aspects of the requirement have been addressed. The MSG has undertaken efforts to review the outcomes and impact of the EITI. In addition to publishing annual progress reports covering 2022 and 2023, which include an assessment of progress on the five outcome areas, the MSG commissioned an impact study in 2024 that sought views from different stakeholders on EITI implementation. The MSG’s efforts to take gender considerations and inclusiveness into account are captured in the impact study and the 2024 work plan. The MSG undertook consultations to allow all stakeholders to provide feedback on the EITI process and the impact of the EITI and has reflected their views through the 2024 impact study, 2022 and 2023 annual reports (Requirement 7.4.b). In addition, stakeholders were able to provide feedback on the EITI process through outreach events.

The Secretariat’s assessment is that Requirement 1.1 is mostly met. The MSG’s self-assessment, reported in the ‘Stakeholder engagement’ template, considers the objective of ensuring a full, active and effective government lead for EITI implementation, both in terms of high-level political leadership and operational engagement, as a means of facilitating all aspects of EITI implementation as mostly met. The International Secretariat considers that the requirement is only mostly fulfilled due to the funding challenges that EITI Gabon faced during the period under review which suspended several work streams. Moreover, the MSG’s Validation templates provide evidence of low participation of some government MSG members, which has had a bigger impact on the proper development of the MSG’s functions given the lack of a proper policy to appoint alternates to government MSG members. This low level of participation of some government representatives may also be due to the lack of a senior government official leading EITI implementation. The Secretariat’s assessment is that Requirement 1.1 is mostly met. The MSG’s self-assessment, reported in the ‘Stakeholder engagement’ template, considers the objective of ensuring a full, active and effective government lead for EITI implementation, both in terms of high-level political leadership and operational engagement, as a means of facilitating all aspects of EITI implementation as mostly met. The International Secretariat considers that the requirement is only mostly fulfilled due to the funding challenges that EITI Gabon faced during the period under review which suspended several work streams. Moreover, the MSG’s Validation templates provide evidence of low participation of some government MSG members, which has had a bigger impact on the proper development of the MSG’s functions given the lack of a proper policy to appoint alternates to government MSG members. This low level of participation of some government representatives may also be due to the lack of a senior government official leading EITI implementation. Since Gabon re-joined the EITI as an implementing country in 2021, senior government officials, both under President Ali Bongo and during the Transition Government of President Brice Oligui Ngema, have expressed official support for EITI. In March 2024, Prime Minister Ndong Sima stressed the importance of Gabon’s membership to EITI as a tool to promote transparency and good governance. During the period under review, EITI implementation in Gabon has been led by a mid-level government official with support from the Ministry of Economy. Stakeholders noted the absence of government representatives at MSG meetings, despite being convened by the EITI Champion. Stakeholders highlighted during consultations that the current EITI Champion does not have enough authority to ensure the participation and engagement of other government representatives to the MSG across relevant ministries and agencies, and has limited capability to mobilise resources for EITI implementation. EITI implementation has improved communications between different government entities and pushed for important changes regarding transparency, such as the disclosure of contract excerpts for the first time. The government’s support for the work of the national secretariat and MSG is also evident in the recent publication of a report on oil costs. However, the national secretariat has faced funding challenges during the period under review. The progress reports indicate that the effective disbursement rate for 2022 was only 10%, while the allocations for 2023 and 2024 have yet to be released. This delay has significantly impacted the implementation of work plan activities. The change of regime in August 2023 led to delays in the disbursement of government funding to the EITI for four months, although this appears to be in line with delays in government funding to other independent bodies during this period. The issues on funding and non-attendance of government representatives to the MSG suggest that there is not enough government engagement at a senior level in EITI implementation. The Government of Gabon has appointed a proper representation to the MSG, with the Office of the Prime Minister, as well as the Ministries of Mines, Oil and Gas, and Budget, although the continuous presence of all these representatives in the MSG meetings has not been always attained. The Validation templates provide evidence of outreach activities by MSG members to other government agencies not represented on the MSG to solicit feedback for the MSG’s work plan and to move forward with agreements and data disclosure required by the MSG. In terms of attendance to MSG meetings, there were weaknesses in attendance by some government MSG representatives during the period under review, highlighting the need for clearer procedures for alternate representation in the group and for strengthening the EITI Champion’s convening power. These procedures could facilitate the MSG’s decision-making process as well as the monitoring and accountability of tasks that are the government’s responsibility. The lack of adequate and timely resources for the MSG could negatively affect EITI implementation. Delays in government funding for EITI Gabon in late 2023 impacted the MSG’s functioning and production of the EITI Report.

The Secretariat’s assessment is that Requirement 1.2 is fully met. The International Secretariat considers that the objective of the requirement to ensure the industry’s full, active and effective engagement in the EITI, both in terms of disclosures and participation in the work of the multi-stakeholder group and to ensure that there is an enabling environment for the industry as fulfilled. The industry constituency is fully, actively and effectively engaged in all aspects of EITI implementation. Companies with operations in the country are well represented with three members from private companies and two from state-owned enterprises. During the stakeholder consultations for this Validation, the International Secretariat met with a large set of companies both within and outside the MSG, who had a clear understanding of the EITI and had been engaged with EITI implementation both in MSG meetings and in data collection for the 2021 and 2022 EITI Reports. There are clear mechanisms for the election of representatives and the coordination of the constituency, although most of these are informal (WhatsApp messages, feedback meetings and email), and by continuous meetings of the two industry unions (UMIGA), the mining sector union and the oil and gas union (UPEGA) Consultations confirmed the companies’ willingness to disclose information as required by the government and following the requirements of the EITI Standard. However, the industry position seems more reactive than proactive, as is evident in the lack of disclosure of the full text of extractive contracts and beneficial ownership information. Consultations also confirmed that EITI implementation has helped to institute practices that strengthen the sharing and disclosure of information between companies and the government and has contributed to the general disclosure of information. There is an enabling environment for company participation in EITI implementation in Gabon. No barriers to full participation were highlighted either in the templates submitted for Validation or during consultations. The 2022 EITI Report confirmed that half of the companies did not provide agreed quality assurances for their EITI reporting. During consultations, industry representatives highlighted challenges regarding the tight scheduling for producing the EITI Reports and a conflict between cash-based reporting used for EITI reporting and their accrual accounting. Although two companies did not report at the time of the 2022 EITI Report, they did report their information afterwards, and it was included in the EITI Gabon website for the 2022 EITI Report.

The Secretariat’s assessment is that Requirement 1.3 is fully met. The MSG’s self-assessment, reported in the ‘Stakeholder engagement’ template, considers as fully met the objective of the requirement to ensure that civil society is fully, actively and effectively engaged in the EITI process and that there is an enabling environment for CSO participation The International Secretariat considers the objective as fulfilled, as the evidence collected and stakeholder consultations indicate that the civil society constituency is fully and actively engaged in EITI implementation and that the conditions for their free participation have been met during the period under review. Access to decision-making processes has increased since the regime change of August 2023. The International Secretariat consulted multiple secondary sources that described a pattern of government constraints on broader civil society’s freedoms of expression and operation that does not appear to have substantially improved in the year since the August 2023 coup d’état. For instance, organisations such as Reporters without Frontiers, acknowledge some progress in the overall score on the press freedom index of Gabon rising sharply to 56/180 in 2024 after only gradual improvements from 117/180 in 2021 to 105/180 in 2022 and 94/180 in 2023. Nonetheless, during the assessment conducted for this Validation, the International Secretariat did not identify any pattern of government constraints on CSOs substantially engaged in the EITI process related to their activities in the EITI process or public debate on extractive industry governance. The Secretariat thus concludes that there have been no breaches of the EITI protocol: Participation of civil society in the 2021-2024 period. The MSG’s Validation template on “Stakeholder engagement” clearly points out there have been no breaches regarding the exercise of their liberties of expression, operation, association and engagement. Annex A to this Validation report provides a more detailed assessment of the environment for civil society engagement in the EITI process. Civil society organisations played a major role in ensuring Gabon rejoined the EITI in 2021 and have been actively steering MSG discussion and engaged in EITI implementation. However, in their documentation for Validation as well as during consultations, the International Secretariat learned about the challenges, both logistical and financial, that CSOs face in reaching out to their broader constituency and in engaging more directly with communities that host extractive activities. Despite these challenges, CSO representatives were able to participate in dissemination missions and have maintained active communication with their broader constituency, which has led to the publication of statements, on issues such as the disclosure of contracts. Consultations held during this Validation confirmed that CSOs’ influence over public decision-making has increased since the August 2023 coup d’état. Several key civil society members were invited by the new regime to join different branches of government in influential positions in the Senate (such as the Vice presidency of the Senate and in the Economic, Social and Council) during the transitional period. In consultations, civil society stakeholders did not consider this addition of roles as a barrier to these CSOs’ full and effective participation in the EITI, or a conflict of interest. In practice, attendance in EITI activities remained high, and civil society representatives consulted for this Validation asserted that the work of the CSO representatives who serve in government or legislative positions remains separate from their day-to-day work. During the Validation mission, the Secretariat could confirm that CSOs maintain an independent position to their positions in the Senate regarding EITI implementation. An example of this was the issuing of a communique from CSOs complaining about the lack of speed in the publication of contracts, questioning the minister of Mines about future actions for meeting this government commitment. CSO representatives also confirmed their participation in government positions was a temporary arrangement during the transitional period. CSOs have remained very active in the public space by publishing position papers and communiqués urging the government to accelerate the implementation of reforms and policies aimed at strengthening transparency in the extractive sector, as in the case of the disclosure of the full text of extractive contracts.

The Secretariat’s assessment is that Requirement 1.4 is mostly met. The MSG’s ‘Stakeholder engagement’ template considers the objective, of ensuring that there is an independent MSG that can exercise active and meaningful oversight of all aspects of EITI implementation that balances the three main constituencies’ interests in a consensual manner, as “mostly met”. The International Secretariat considers the objective as only mostly met due to instances of weak collaboration among constituencies and limited opportunities to discuss key governance issues in the extractive sector, as well as concerns regarding civil society in the MSG performing dual roles as civil society representatives while serving in different capacities in government. During consultations, the Secretariat heard concerns from some stakeholders on the recent appointment of several CSO representatives to legislative positions in the Senate and the Social and Economic Council. Some stakeholders considered this as a potential conflict of interest. Others, however, view these recent appointments as a positive development, arguing that they have brought EITI Gabon closer to political decision-making processes. The International Secretariat notes that although CSOs have a stronger influence on the decision-making progress, these appointments are not yet institutionalised and there is uncertainty about the prevalence of these platforms for CSOs and their members in the future. These appointments raise concerns regarding the full adherence to EITI Requirement 1.4a. ii regarding the independence of CSO members of government and companies both in operational and policy terms. Moreover, these appointments highlight the lack of proper policies and norms within the MSG regarding potential conflicts of interest and the participation and appointment of alternates to attend MSG meetings in the absence of principal representatives. Documentation submitted by the MSG in the ‘Stakeholder engagement’ template provides evidence of an open and transparent invitation process, with a broad representation among the different constituencies of government, civil society and industry, and that the nomination process for each of these constituencies was also independent. Consultations with stakeholders from the different constituencies further confirmed this. After the regime change of August 2023, the civil society and industry constituencies confirmed their representatives, while the government appointed new ones. After the MSG was rebuilt, all constituencies continued actively engaging in the MSG’s discussions, and CSO members of the MSG remained independent. The ToR for the MSG were also updated and ratified on 6 March 2024, together with the MSG’s code of conduct. After the coup d’etat of August 2023, several members of the CSO representation were appointed by the incoming regime as legislative representatives. Members of the CSO constituency consulted for this Validation confirmed the independence of their representatives both politically and operationally from the government. Nonetheless, other stakeholders consulted stressed the potential risk of a conflict of interest as some civil society representatives are in parliamentary positions and continue as CSO representatives on the MSG. During consultations, different stakeholders highlighted instances where there has been a lack of cooperation and coordination amongst the different constituencies. In some instances, each constituency had access to funding and led activities related to EITI implementation. The proliferation of uncoordinated activities had a negative impact on the performance of the MSG. Despite the regularity of meetings and the opportunities for each constituency to present and discuss issues at the MSG, consultations with stakeholders indicated that the MSG Chair had stopped discussion of specific issues, such as the potential economic consequences of the government’s decision to buy Assala Energy. Consultations for this Validation confirmed that the MSG members from the industry and civil society constituencies have regular communications with their broader respective constituencies. The government constituency has not followed that practice, however. The industry and civil society constituencies have regularly attended MSG meetings, although government representation has been weaker with more absences and no clear procedures for nominating alternate members. This has presented challenges in the decision-making process of the MSG and sometimes has also meant challenges in gathering relevant information from government officials. The MSG faced delays in approving the 2023 work plan due to a lack of financial resources. However, despite the delay, the work plan was approved with the consensus of all constituencies. Meetings are notified in advance to all members, and the discussions are documented through meeting minutes published on the Gabon EITI website. All MSG members, from every constituency including industry, receive a per diem for each meeting they attend. The practice is well documented, and the amounts are published according to the rules governing the MSG. In consultations, the International Secretariat confirmed that all members of the MSG receive a per diem, including industry representatives. Each MSG member receives 100,000 CFA francs (approximately 160 USD) per meeting. This amount falls within the amount considered by the US Department of State as the maximum per diem (342 USD) in Gabon, and it is lower than other per diem rates paid in the Francophone Africa region.

The Secretariat’s assessment is that Requirement 3.1 is fully met. The MSG’s ‘Transparency’ template considers the objective of ensuring public access to an overview of the extractive sector in the country and its potential is mostly met. The International Secretariat considers the objective as fulfilled, given that Gabon’s EITI Reports provide an overview of the mining and petroleum sectors, including significant exploration activities. Gabon’s 2022 EITI Report provides succinct overviews of the petroleum and mining sectors, including significant exploration activities. Gabon has also used its EITI reporting to describe the government’s efforts related to the energy transition, beyond the extractive industries. There is an opportunity for Gabon EITI to work with the line agencies for petroleum (DGH) and mining (DGM) to develop systematic disclosures of updated information on the sectors, including exploration updates.

The Secretariat's assessment is that Requirement 6.3 is fully met. The MSG’s ‘Transparency’ template considers the objective of ensuring a public understanding of the extractive industries’ contribution to the national economy is fully met. The International Secretariat agrees with the MSG and considers the objective fulfilled, as there is information available on the contribution of informal extractive activities to the economy, although these were not cited in the EITI Report. Gabon’s 2022 EITI Report provides the extractive industries’ contribution, in absolute and relative terms, to GDP, government revenues, exports and employment, with some effort at disclosing gender-disaggregated employment data for over half of the reporting companies. Although the export and employment data is marked as covering 2021, this appears to be a typographical error and should refer to this being 2022 data. However, the report is transparent about the lack of study on artisanal and small-scale mining by the DGMG but simply recommends such a study rather than referencing other credible third-party estimates of informal mining activity. Yet there appear to be credible estimates of informal mining activity in Gabon, which could have been cited in Gabon’s EITI reporting, including a May 2024 report by the NGO SwissAid, which estimates informal gold production in Gabon at between 1 and 2 tons a year. The Ministry of Mines launched a programme for the regularisation of artisanal miners in 2023, which Gabon’s EITI disclosures could support through regular referencing of estimates of informal mining.

The Secretariat’s assessment is that Requirement 2.1 is fully met. The MSG’s ‘Transparency’ template considers the objective of ensuring public understanding of all aspects of the regulatory framework for the extractive industries is mostly met. The International Secretariat disagrees with the MSG and considers the objective as fulfilled, given Gabon’s lack of use of its EITI reporting to track legal, regulatory and administrative reforms in the governance of its extractive industries. Gabon’s 2022 EITI Report provides an overview of the legal framework and fiscal regime for the mining and petroleum sectors, including a description of the roles and responsibilities of key government entities and confirmation of a lack of fiscal devolution in the extractive industries. However, Gabon’s EITI Reports have only briefly referred to ongoing reforms in public finance management, but without noting any recent or ongoing reforms in the mining or petroleum sectors. There are, however, several ongoing and planned reforms, both before and particularly since the coup d’état in August 2023, that could have been covered by Gabon’s EITI reporting, and the MSG should discuss the impact of these reforms to the governance of the extractive sector and revenue of the Gabonese State.

The Secretariat’s assessment is that Requirement 2.4 is partly met. Most of the stakeholders consulted and the MSG’s ‘Transparency’ template considers the objective of ensuring the public accessibility of all licenses and contracts underpinning extractive activities is mostly met. MSG comments to the draft Validation report argue that the objective is mostly met. However, while acknowledging the new evidence provided by the MSG comments, the International Secretariat considers the objective as not being fulfilled, even if the recent formalisation of the government’s contract disclosure policy and the start of publication of some contracts in mining and contract summaries in oil and gas is a sign of progress. In its comments to the draft report the MSG notes its disagreement with ‘partly met’. It argues that the country is in a political transition phase and that the ‘Gabon-Digital’ project, financed by the World Bank, will in the future facilitate the publication of contracts while maintaining the country’s sovereignty. While the International Secretariat recognises the context of political transition and welcomes the ongoing projects, it maintains its assessment of ‘partly met’ given that the actual disclosure of contracts and licenses is still materially incomplete. Gabon EITI has devoted significant attention to the issue of contract disclosure in the past two years. It produced a study on contract transparency in March 2023 and its 2022 EITI Report in August 2024, although many developments in July and August 2024 have improved Gabon’s performance on contract disclosure but have not yet been reflected in Gabon’s EITI reporting. The contract disclosure study and the 2021 and 2022 EITI Reports explained that there was no clear government policy on contract disclosure and documented confidentiality barriers to disclosure of oil and gas contracts. However, as evidenced by a Facebook post and a meeting covered in the local press on 11 July 2024, the Minister of Economy and Participations Mays Mouissi and Minister of Oil and Gas Marcel Abeke chaired a meeting on 12 July 2024 to prepare the publication of mining, petroleum and forestry contracts and express their public commitment to publish all extractive contracts. This came after a media coverage calling for the publication of extractive contracts. However, as described in the contracts study and the EITI Reports, an enabling legal and regulatory environment for contract disclosure has not yet been established in Gabon. Stakeholder consultations clearly indicated that companies were supportive of contract disclosure in the oil and gas and mining sectors in response to the government’s guidance. Licenses and contracts are approved by Government Decrees, which are then published in the Official Gazette (Journal Officiel), which maintains a searchable portal, but these do not contain the contracts themselves. The MSG agreed on a ten-point action plan on contract disclosure in April 2023 , which sets out planned activities to achieve disclosure of all contracts by July 2024. In August 2024, the Ministry of Economy and Participations website started publishing several contracts and contract information. The Ministry published a total of four mining contracts, two-page summaries of the terms of 25 oil and gas contracts (and two company establishment conventions) as well as 13 forestry contracts. However, Gabon EITI has not yet published an inventory of all active petroleum and mining licenses and contracts, indicating annexes, amendments and riders where applicable, and which contracts have been published and which have not. The International Secretariat has reviewed the published contracts and cross-referenced them against the lists of active petroleum and mining licenses in Annexes 4 and 5 of the 2022 EITI Report (see Annex B). This review found that the four mining contracts and the majority of summaries of petroleum contract terms published predated 2021. None of the 108 mining and quarrying licenses marked as awarded in 2021-2023, and any related contracts, have yet been published. Thus, none of the mining and petroleum contracts awarded since January 2021 have yet been published. The timeframe for publication of all licenses and contracts after the initial disclosures of August 2024 remains unclear. The lack of a public inventory of active licenses and contracts published by Gabon EITI complicates public tracking of progress in the publication of extractive contracts. There is an opportunity for Gabon to sustain momentum in its publication of contracts by ensuring that all active extractive contracts and licenses are disclosed in full.

The Secretariat's assessment is that Requirement 6.4 is not assessed, given that several encouraged aspects of this requirement remain to be addressed by Gabon EITI. The MSG’s ‘Transparency’ template considers the objective of “providing a basis for stakeholders to assess the adequacy of the regulatory framework and monitoring efforts to manage the environmental impact of extractive industries” is mostly met, an assessment that was reasserted by stakeholders during consultations. However, the International Secretariat considers the objective is not yet fulfilled. Gabon’s publication of some information on legal and regulatory provisions related to managing the environmental impact of mining and petroleum is a sign of progress, but Gabon has not yet used its EITI reporting as a diagnostic of actual practices. Gabon’s 2022 EITI Report describes the government’s general policies for managing the environmental impacts of the extractive industries and a brief overview of relevant laws and regulations but provides little detail on administrative procedures or actual practices related to environmental impact management and sanctioning. Thus, Gabon’s EITI Reports provide an overview of the institutional framework for environmental impact management related to the extractive industries and descriptions of requirements for extractive companies to complete Environmental Impact Assessments (EIAs). The EITI Reports have disclosed some oil and gas companies’ contributions to the environmental impact fund and environmental rehabilitation funds, even if the majority of reporting petroleum companies do not appear to have disclosed such contributions. There is an opportunity for Gabon to use its EITI reporting to further clarify environmental impact management practices, for instance by facilitating access to concluded EIAs and environmental impact management plans.

The Secretariat’s assessment is that Requirement 2.2 is partly met. The MSG’s ‘Transparency’ template considers the objective of providing a public overview of awards and transfers of oil, gas and mining licenses, the statutory procedures for license awards and transfers and whether these procedures are followed in practice is mostly met. Stakeholders considered that the objective was mostly met given the recent efforts to disclose more information regarding contracts and the government’s commitment to transparency. Stakeholders also acknowledged that this is a work in progress and recognised there is still missing information to fully comply with the EITI Standard. However, the International Secretariat considers the objective as still not being fulfilled, given gaps and contradictory information regarding the allocation of new oil and gas contracts, and a lack of disclosure of the technical criteria utilised in the awarding of oil, gas and mining licenses. In its comments to the draft report, the MSG notes its agreement with the assessment. Furthermore, it notes that the Inspectors General of Services (Inspecteurs Généraux des Services) are in the process of developing a manual to describe the conditions for granting and renewing permits in the extractive sector. In oil and gas, Gabon’s 2022 EITI Report provides contradictory information as to whether any oil and gas rights were awarded in 2022, with the EITI Report stating that there were none while the oil and gas license register in Annex 4 of the EITI Report marks three licenses as awarded in 2022. It remains unclear whether these three licenses listed in Annex 4 as having been awarded in 2022 represent license extensions or renewals, rather than new awards. While the 2021 and 2022 EITI Reports both describe the 12th oil and gas licensing round launched in November 2018, neither report clarifies when licenses and contracts were awarded as a result of this licensing round. However, press releases on the websites of oil and gas companies BW Energy and VAALCO indicate that they received petroleum licenses as a result of the 12th licensing round in September 2021, “subject to finalising the production sharing contracts (PSC) with the DGH”. Neither the 2021 nor 2022 EITI Reports cover any petroleum rights wards as a result of the 12th licensing round. While a brief overview of the 12th licensing round process is provided in Gabon’s EITI Reports, the full list of bidders and specific bid criteria for each block awarded through competitive tender are not yet accessible to the public. The 2022 EITI Report describes the general statutory license award and transfer procedures, but not the technical and financial criteria assessed (nor any weightings applied) by the licensing authorities. Gabon’s two EITI Reports have not yet included any evidence of the MSG assessing the existence of any non-trivial deviations from statutory procedures in the practice of awards and transfers in the period under review. In mining, Gabon’s 2022 EITI Report provides a list of 49 mining license awards and 10 contract awards (as well as one transfer and two renewals) in 2022, together with a general explanation of the procedure for awarding mining licenses, but without a description of the technical and financial criteria assessed (nor any weightings applied). As in the petroleum sector, there is no evidence that the MSG has undertaken an assessment of non-trivial deviations from statutory procedures in the awards and transfers of mining licenses in the period under review. Gabon has not yet used its EITI disclosures to publicly comment on the efficiency of licensing procedures or practices.

The Secretariat’s assessment is that Requirement 2.3 is partly met. The MSG’s ‘Transparency’ template considers the objective of ensuring the public accessibility of comprehensive information on extractive industry property rights is mostly met. Stakeholders consulted highlighted the efforts the transitional government is making to get more information to the public eye, while acknowledging the challenges regarding the government’s lack of human and financial resources. However, the International Secretariat considers the objective not fulfilled, given gaps in key information on petroleum and mining licenses, the lack of timely updates of publicly available license information and concerns over the comprehensiveness of petroleum licenses covered. Gabon’s EITI reporting provides the only public source of information on license information in both mining and petroleum. Disclosures of license information exclusively through the EITI Report is expected to be a stop-gap measure in the mining sector given ongoing reforms to develop an online cadastral portal for mining, although plans to strengthen the government’s systematic disclosures of license data in the oil and gas sector are unclear. Gabon’s EITI reporting has publicly disclosed some of the license data required by the EITI Standard, including dates of award and expiry, commodities covered and general location of all active licenses, but there are weaknesses in these disclosures. The dates of application and geographical coordinates are not publicly disclosed for any active petroleum or mining licenses. In addition, there are additional gaps in information about certain petroleum licenses. While the register of mining licenses provided in Annex 5 of the 2022 EITI Report appears to be comprehensive of all active mining licenses, the comprehensiveness of the petroleum register in Annex 4 is unclear. Indeed, the International Secretariat’s review of summaries of 25 oil and gas contracts published on the Ministry of Economy and Participations website (see Requirement 2.3 and Annex B) includes two oil and gas contracts held by material companies that do not feature in the petroleum register in Annex 4. Gabon’s EITI Reports briefly describe the DGMG’s ongoing project to establish an online cadastral portal in the mining sector, although they do not clarify whether a similar reform is planned in the petroleum sector by the DGH. Yet neither the EITI Report nor the Transparency template provides any update on the status of the development of the DGMG’s new cadastral system. In its comments to the draft report, the MSG notes that establishing an oil and gas cadastre will be facilitated by the ongoing review of the legal framework for oil and gas. It also notes its agreement on the score for this requirement. While it could be argued that Gabon’s progress in addressing the technical aspects of Requirement 2.3 warrants an assessment of ‘mostly met’, the International Secretariat considers that the lack of complete systematic disclosures of petroleum or mining license data exacerbates the impact of the gaps in license information provided in Gabon’s EITI Reports.

The Secretariat’s assessment is that Requirement 2.5 is partly met. The MSG’s ‘Transparency’ template considers the objective of enabling the public to know who ultimately owns and controls the companies operating in the country’s extractive industries is mostly met. Stakeholders consulted had contrasting perspectives on progress on this topic, some stakeholders in government acknowledging that despite slow progress, there are already initiatives to draft a roadmap and begin gathering information from companies, who argue they need a clear legal framework to begin disclosing that information. Some stakeholders from civil society pointed out a lack of progress and the absence of information on beneficial ownership available up to date. However, the International Secretariat considers the objective as not fulfilled, given the lack of enabling legal or regulatory framework for the government’s collection and public disclosure of beneficial ownership information on extractive companies The Secretariat’s assessment is that Requirement 2.5 is partly met. The MSG’s ‘Transparency’ template considers the objective of enabling the public to know who ultimately owns and controls the companies operating in the country’s extractive industries is mostly met. Stakeholders consulted had contrasting perspectives on progress on this topic, some stakeholders in government acknowledging that despite slow progress, there are already initiatives to draft a roadmap and begin gathering information from companies, who argue they need a clear legal framework to begin disclosing that information. Some stakeholders from civil society pointed out a lack of progress and the absence of information on beneficial ownership available up to date. However, the International Secretariat considers the objective as not fulfilled, given the lack of enabling legal or regulatory framework for the government’s collection and public disclosure of beneficial ownership information on extractive companies and the very limited extractive companies’ legal or beneficial ownership information disclosures to date. Gabon’s two EITI Reports have not yet formalised the government’s policy on beneficial ownership transparency, but have been transparent about the lack of enabling legal and regulatory framework for the government’s collection and disclosure of beneficial ownership data in the extractive industries. Progress in addressing Requirement 2.5 has been limited in Gabon to date, as the MSG has prioritised the plan of contracting a consultant to prepare a roadmap on beneficial ownership disclosures. In the meantime, Gabon piloted beneficial ownership disclosures in its 2022 EITI Report for the first time, based on an MSG-agreed definition of BO in line with Requirement 2.5.f, but not an agreed definition of ‘politically exposed person’. Beneficial ownership seems to have only been requested for the 18 material companies that reported, and only two comprehensively disclosed their beneficial ownership information in the EITI Report, even though Requirement 2,5 clearly establishes that all companies who hold a license permit or are applying to get one should disclose their beneficial ownership information. Another four companies are listed as subsidiaries of publicly listed companies in the 2022 EITI Report, although publicly listed (and EITI supporting) company TotalEnergies is listed as ‘not communicated’. The information provided on beneficial owners includes all of the data required under Requirement 2.5.d aside from the country of residence and identifying any politically exposed person(s). The 2022 EITI Report identifies the stock exchange where each publicly listed company is listed but does not provide links to each company’s filings to the stock exchange regulator. Quality assurances have been agreed upon for beneficial ownership disclosures through the EITI, but there is no indication of the level of adherence to the agreed procedures in the 2022 EITI Report. Legal ownership information is provided for only 14 of the 18 reporting companies. Thus, beneficial and legal ownership information is not publicly accessible for the majority of companies holding and applying for extractive licenses.

The Secretariat's assessment is that Requirement 2.6 is mostly met. The MSG’s ‘Transparency’ template considers the objective of ensuring an effective mechanism for transparency and accountability for well-governed SOEs and state participation more broadly is mostly met. Stakeholders considered that the objective was mostly met, given the recent changes and the publication of some information in the EITI Report and on the national EITI website. The International Secretariat considers the objective as only mostly fulfilled, given the lack of comprehensive public information on the rules and practices governing the financial relations between the two extractive SOEs, GOC and SEM, and the state. EITI disclosures do not include an analysis of potential deviations in the compliance of the legal framework for SOEs. Two SOEs are operating in Gabon’s extractive industries: the Société Nationale des Hydrocarbures du Gabon (SNHG), better known as Gabon Oil Company (GOC), in petroleum and the Société Équatoriale des Mines (SEM) in mining. Gabon’s 2021 and 2022 EITI Reports have demonstrated the materiality of these two SOEs and referred to data from their financial statements, but without commenting on the lack of public availability of the financial statements. The two SOEs offer very limited systematic disclosures: the SEM website provides limited information on the company’s projects and the GOC website no longer appears operational. Neither SOE systematically discloses its audited financial statements, despite repeated recommendations from the IMF for all SOEs to do so regularly (most recently in the May 2024 Article IV Consultation report). However, following stakeholder consultations for this Validation, the latest unaudited financial statements of GOC were published on the national EITI website. Gabon’s two EITI Reports provide a similar succinct overview of the two SOEs’ roles and responsibilities and a description of legal provisions granting the state free participation in mining production license-holders and petroleum projects. Yet its EITI reporting has not yet clarified either the rules or the practices related to the financial relations between GOC, SEM and the state. Stakeholder consultations and the publication of their latest unaudited financial statements provided some clarity over the practice of retained earnings and reinvestments, third-party financing and the distribution of profits by GOC, but not SEM. Gabon’s 2022 EITI Report comprehensively discloses the level of state participation in different extractive companies and projects in the mining and oil and gas sector. In the mining sector, the state has not yet used its right to 10% free equity in some projects that have not transitioned to the production phase. The terms attached to state and SOE participation are described for some, but not all, of the companies. The 2022 EITI Report notes the lack of reporting of any loan or guarantee to any extractive company or project by the state or the two SOEs. Gabon’s 2022 EITI Report briefly describes GOC’s governance structure and partly describes the rules or practices related to operating and capital expenditures, procurement, subcontracting or corporate governance for either of the two SOEs. A partial description of these rules is further disclosed in GOC's unaudited financial statements.

The Secretariat's assessment is that Requirement 4.2 is mostly met. The MSG’s ‘Transparency’ template considers the objective of transparency in the sale of in-kind revenues of minerals, oil and gas is mostly met. Stakeholders considered that the objective was mostly met, pending the publication of some missing information by the GOC. The International Secretariat considers that the objective is mostly fulfilled, given Gabon’s cargo-level disclosures of sales of the state’s in-kind crude oil revenues, balanced with a lack of clarity on the sale of the state’s in-kind crude oil to the SOGARA refinery. Uncertainty remains on the applicability of in-kind payments in the mining sector. In oil and gas, Gabon’s 2022 EITI Report provides project-level data on the state’s collections of in-kind revenues, albeit with 25% of in-kind revenues not disaggregated by block. However, it is a concern that the reconciliation of petroleum companies’ in-kind payments to the government is done with the DGH rather than GOC, given that it is the national oil company (GOC) that lifts this crude oil on behalf of the state (DGH). The 2022 EITI Report does not provide assurances that GOC’s figures on the state’s in-kind revenues match the figures in the EITI Report. While the 2021 EITI Report only disclosed sales of the state’s in-kind revenues in aggregate, the 2022 EITI Report provides cargo-level data on its sales of the state’s in-kind oil revenues via exports. In addition, the state is also selling some of its in-kind oil to the SOGARA refinery as feedstock, although it was not possible to isolate this transfer from the total sales data disclosed. The 2022 EITI Report does not provide a comprehensive picture of state in-kind revenues in natural gas, other than a reference to a private sector company (Perenco’s) sales of the state’s in-kind natural gas revenues on its behalf through sales to the national electricity company SEEG. It remains unclear whether the state holds similar arrangements with other petroleum companies, or whether Perenco’s agreement with the state covers the state’s entire in-kind natural gas revenues from all petroleum projects. Yet the MSG has made efforts to go beyond the minimum required by requesting data from GOC on its equity oil sales for the 2022 EITI Report but without a response from GOC to date. The 2022 EITI Report explains that the state holds a long-term sales agreement with Vitol whereby it sells its entire exported in-kind oil revenues to Vitol. The agreement with Vitol appears to have been originally signed in 2013, according to media coverage. Gabon’s EITI Reports have not yet expanded to disclosures about the GOC’s buyer selection process, and the long-term sales agreement with Vitol is not public, both encouraged provisions of the EITI Standard. While the MSG attempted to include Vitol in the scope of EITI reporting to reconcile the state’s exported crude oil, its efforts were unsuccessful, as the EITI Report explains the MSG could not find a company representative’s contact details. In mining, it remains unclear from the 2021 and 2022 EITI Reports whether the state collects any in-kind revenues, particularly in gold. The 2021 EITI Report describes (but the 2022 EITI Report does not) the operations of one of SEM’s subsidiaries, the Comptoir Gabonais de Collecte de l’Or (CGCO), which operates five regional buying houses trading in artisanal-mined gold. It is unclear whether the CGCO collects any government revenues from these activities, either in cash or in-kind. The two EITI Reports also describe a second type of arrangement that could give rise to in-kind revenues to SEM, although there is insufficient information in the EITI Reports (and public domain) on the structure of the agreements. In its comments to the draft report, the MSG clarified that while the mining code provides for in-kind revenues, this clause has not been applied in practice and that no income is received in-kind. It noted that CGCO (Comptoir Gabonais de Collecte de l'Or) has been dormant since 2020. Concerning the mining operations of the five buying houses, it did not receive any public revenue from these activities, neither in cash nor in kind. The 2021 EITI Report briefly describes contracts on a particular license (MINKIE G9-981) that SEM holds with two gold mining companies and in which it receives a share of production. Yet the structure of the contract, and whether any of that production represents state in-kind revenues, remains unclear. In its comments to the draft report, the MSG clarified that SEM receives that share of production as part of its contractual agreement and is not required to sell it and transmit the proceeds to the state. The comments of the MSG agree with the overall score for this requirement.

The Secretariat's assessment is that Requirement 4.5 is partly met. The MSG’s ‘Transparency’ template considers the objective of traceability of payments and transfers involving SOEs is mostly met. Stakeholders consulted considered also that the objective was mostly met. The International Secretariat considers the objective not fulfilled. Despite the recent publication of the financial statements of GOC (covering 2021 and 2022), the lack of publication of similar information for SEM and the lack of clarity around government transfers to these two SOEs represent significant obstacles to the overall objective of transparency on transactions involving SOEs. There are no systematic disclosures of transactions related to the two extractive SOEs in Gabon, aside from the recent ad hoc publication of GOC’s 2021 and 2022 financial statements on the Gabon EITI website. However, the budget execution report is published on the Ministry of Public Accounts website. Gabon’s 2021 and 2022 EITI Reports provide some information on transactions related to the two material SOEs but with significant gaps in transparency on transactions between the SOEs and the state. The EITI Report presents the aggregate value of dividends collected by SEM in 2022, but it is not disaggregated by company. Gabon has made more limited progress in using its EITI reporting to improve transparency on financial transactions between the two SOEs and the state. The 2022 EITI Report discloses the aggregate value of dividends collected by the state in 2022, it does not disclose or reconcile the value of dividends paid by each of the material SOEs in 2022. The audited financial statement of GOC clarifies that the SOE paid a dividend of XOF 15 billion (around USD 24m) in 2022. In the absence of publicly available 2022 financial statements for SEM, it remains unclear whether it paid a dividend to the state in 2022. Likewise, it is unclear from the 2022 EITI Report and other publicly accessible documents whether the state made any financial transfer to the SEM in 2022. In addition, the 2022 EITI Report confirms that neither of the two material SOEs provided the required quality assurances (specifically their management attestation) for their EITI reporting. In its comments to the draft report, the MSG notes that SEM, on behalf of the government, received two dividend payments. The first one by Comilog, for FCFA 16,457,559,940 and the other by Nouvelle Gabon mining, FCFA 425,434,560. The MSG comments also noted that SEM did not receive any transfers from the Gabonese state in 2022. The comments also highlighted the creation of a National Gold Reserve, which will be responsible of collecting the State’s share of in-kind gold. Overall, the comments to this requirement did not disagree with the score attributed to Requirement 4.5.

The Secretariat's assessment is that Requirement 6.2 is partly met. The MSG’s Transparency template considers the objective of transparency in extractive-funded expenditures on behalf of the government that are not reflected in the national budget is not applicable to Gabon in the period under review. Stakeholders consulted considered that the objective was not applicable to Gabon in the period under review. However, the International Secretariat considers the objective as not fulfilled, given Gabon EITI’s reliance on self-reporting of any quasi-fiscal expenditures by SOEs rather than establishing a methodologically robust approach that is based on evidence of SOEs’ expenditures in 2022. Gabon’s 2021 and 2022 EITI Reports have included data collection requests related to quasi-fiscal expenditures in the EITI reporting templates sent to the two material SOEs, albeit without a response from either SOE. Although the MSG has concluded that there were no quasi-fiscal expenditures undertaken by extractive SOEs on the basis of their lack of reporting, the International Secretariat considers that the lack of evidence of capacity-building for material SOEs on quasi-fiscal expenditures, the lack of engagement of the Ministry of Finance, the Ministry of Economy and the Ministry of Public Accounts, as well as the lack of availability to the MSG of the two extractive SOEs’ audited 2022 financial statements, imply that the MSG has not yet established a robust methodology for identifying quasi-fiscal expenditures linked to extractive industry revenues. While there is no evidence of quasi-fiscal expenditures from official documents in the public domain, the International Secretariat considers that more work is needed by Gabon EITI to comprehensively address the issue of potential quasi-fiscal expenditures by extractive SOEs. Indeed, the issue of repayment of national debt related to GOC’s contracting of a USD 1.2bn loan in 2024 to fund its acquisition of a majority interest in the petroleum company Assala Gabon is expected to become relevant for Gabon’s EITI disclosures in future EITI Reports (see Requirement 4.3).

The Secretariat’s assessment is that Requirement 3.2 is mostly met. The MSG’s ‘Transparency’ template considers the objective of ensuring public understanding of extractive commodity production levels and that the valuation of extractive commodity output is mostly met. The International Secretariat’s view is that the objective is mostly fulfilled, given the public disclosure of production volumes and values for all extractive commodities produced by Gabon aside from natural gas. There does not appear to be any systematic disclosures of extractive commodity production data by government entities or companies in Gabon. Gabon’s 2021 and 2022 EITI Reports disclose production volumes and values for crude oil, manganese and gold, but not for natural gas. Yet the EITI Reports confirm that Gabon produces associated natural gas, in referring to oil and gas company Perenco’s sales of natural gas to the national electricity company SEEG. The oil, manganese and gold production data disclosed is disaggregated by company, with some gaps in field-level crude oil production data. Disclosure of production volumes, but not values, of construction materials produced through quarrying is not considered a material gap given that none of these commodities are produced by companies making material payments to the government in 2022. Gabon’s 2022 EITI Report adds value by reconciling production data between companies and line agencies but has not yet described additional information on how production is monitored. The 2021 EITI Report raised concerns over the lack of comprehensiveness of gold production data disclosed, given reporting omissions by two companies holding gold production-related contracts with SEM. However, these gaps appear to have been addressed in the 2022 EITI Report, which does not include any concerns over the comprehensiveness of gold production data disclosed. The lack of reference to credible estimates of informal gold production is covered under the extractive industries’ contribution to the national economy (see Requirement 6.3) but does not seem sufficiently material in terms of total revenue, but still a substantial revenue source (at between 1 and 2 tonnes a year according to estimates in a 2024 SwissAid report) to impact the assessment of Gabon’s progress in meeting Requirement 3.2.

The Secretariat’s assessment is that Requirement 3.3 is fully met. The MSG’s ‘Transparency’ template considers the objective of ensuring public understanding of extractive commodity export levels and that the valuation of extractive commodity exports is mostly met. However, the International Secretariat considers the objective as fulfilled, given the public disclosure of extractive commodity export data through Gabon’s EITI Reports. There does not appear to be any systematic disclosures of extractive commodity export data by government entities or companies in Gabon. Gabon’s 2022 EITI Report provides the export volumes and values of the three extractive commodities Gabon exported in 2022 (crude oil, manganese and gold), although inconsistencies between the identity of oil companies producing and exporting crude oil raise questions over the reliability of the crude oil export data disclosed. Indeed, the 2022 EITI Report lists fewer oil-producing companies than oil-exporting companies, while two oil companies listed as producers are not listed as exporters and two exporting companies are not listed as producers. Nonetheless, given that this export data consists of official government export data, all technical aspects of Requirement 3.3 can be considered fulfilled. There is no evidence of any other exports of extractive commodities. Gabon has not yet used its EITI reporting to disclose additional information on the methods for controlling and valuing extractive commodity exports. However, both the 2021 and 2022 EITI Reports include a reconciliation of export volumes and values between the producing companies, the line agency (DGH for petroleum, DGMG for minerals) and Customs (DGDDI), highlighting significant weaknesses in the Customs’ record keeping and related recommendations to establish regular reconciliation of export figures between DGMG and DGDDI.

The Secretariat's assessment is that Requirement 4.1 is fully met. The MSG’s ‘Transparency’ template considers the objective of ensuring comprehensive disclosures of company payments and government revenues from oil, gas and mining is mostly met. However, the International Secretariat considers the objective as fulfilled, given the comprehensive disclosure of material company payments and government revenues from the extractive industries, without significant discrepancies in the reconciliation of payments and revenues. There are few systematic disclosures of government extractive revenues beyond the general budget documents published on the Ministry of Economy and Participations website. However, several petroleum and mining companies operating in Gabon are subsidiaries of groups domiciled in jurisdictions requiring the annual publication of payments to government reports. International extractive company disclosures of 2022 payments to the Government in Gabon include: ENI, Maurel & Prom, TotalEnergies, Eramet and Vaalco (only up to 2021) Gabon’s 2022 EITI Report is based on a robust methodology for the reconciliation of company payments and government revenues. The MSG’s materiality decisions related to the selection of revenue streams and companies to be included in the 2022 EITI Report are clearly described and justified. Gabon’s two EITI Reports to date cover all revenue streams listed in Requirement 4.1.b. Material revenue streams are described and material companies are listed, with all but two material companies reporting and all government entities and SOEs reporting. The value of payments from the two non-reporting companies is not material, meaning that their omissions did not impact the comprehensiveness of the reconciled financial data. In addition, the government has provided full unilateral disclosures of total revenues, including from non-material companies, for each revenue stream included in the scope of EITI reporting. Gabon’s EITI Reports have not yet provided any guidance on public access to material extractive companies’ audited financial statements.

The Secretariat's assessment is that Requirement 4.3 is not applicable in the period under review. The MSG’s ‘Transparency’ template considers the objective of ensuring public understanding of infrastructure provisions and barter-type arrangements is not applicable to Gabon in the period under review. The International Secretariat’s view agrees with the MSG’s self-assessment in considering the objective as not applicable, although it considers it likely that Requirement 4.3 will become applicable to Gabon from 2024 onwards given the recent conclusion of an oil-backed loan. Gabon’s 2021 and 2022 EITI Reports cite the MSG’s conclusion that there were no active infrastructure provisions or barter-type arrangements in accordance with Requirement 4.3 in the period under review. While this assessment is only based on the lack of reporting of such agreements by reporting entities, and indeed casts doubts on the comprehensiveness of this assessment in the absence of publicly accessible operating contracts, the International Secretariat has not found any publicly accessible evidence of any active infrastructure provisions or barter arrangements in 2021-2022. However, media coverage in May-June 2024 indicates that GOC has signed an oil-backed loan agreement valued at USD 1.2bn to fund its USD 1.3bn acquisition of a majority interest in the petroleum company Assala Gabon from US-based private equity company The Carlyle Group. Press coverage in May 2024 indicates that GOC contracted investment bank Invest Premier to help it raise a USD 1.2bn oil-backed loan, to be repaid through 40,000bpd liftings over five years. Press coverage of GOC’s acquisition of Assala Gabon in February 2024 had previously raised questions about the structure of GOC’s financing for this acquisition. A press release on commodity trader Gunvor’s website indicated that the company is involved in the financing agreement, with press coverage in June 2024 indicating that the trader had supplied GOC with USD 800m in financing, although the terms of the financing agreement have not been publicly disclosed. There are thus significant opportunities for Gabon to use its annual EITI disclosures to clarify the terms of the oil-backed financing agreement and to track its implementation on an annual basis.

The Secretariat's assessment is that Requirement 4.4 is partly met. The MSG’s ‘Transparency’ template considers the objective of ensuring transparency in government and SOE revenues from the transit of oil, gas and minerals is mostly met. While the International Secretariat notes that there are efforts to disclose some information on transportation arrangements in the petroleum and mining sectors, it considers the objective to be not fulfilled. While the information gaps on volumes transported, tariffs applied and revenues collected are significant, it appears that the transportation revenues accruing to the state are relatively limited, even if they remain material in the MSG’s view. Gabon’s 2022 EITI Report describes two types of transportation arrangements each in the petroleum and mining sectors that give rise to government revenues. In the petroleum sector, this includes two arrangements: Under the first arrangement, Perenco pays tax to the government on the revenues generated from the transportation of crude oil in an 18-inch pipeline from producing areas to export terminals for third parties (other producing oil companies). Under the second arrangement, GOC operates a 10-inch pipeline with a contract to transport crude oil for one company, SINO Gabon. In mining, there are two transportation arrangements. The first one is a joint venture, SETRAG, between the manganese producer COMILOG and a French transport company, MERIDIAM, which operates the national railway with contracts with three manganese producers including COMILOG. The second arrangement involves a transport company called GSEZ, which is not further described in the EITI Report. The report only states that the MSG insisted that the company be included in EITI reporting. This appears to be a transport operator in the Gabon Special Economic Zone, although the type of government revenues linked to the transportation of extractive commodities from GSEZ remain unclear from the EITI Report, which only states that GSEZ was one of the two material companies that did not report information to the report. The report discloses the aggregate value of transportation revenues from each arrangement, disaggregated by revenue stream, but raises concerns over the lack of reported government revenues from GOC’s operation of the 10-inch pipeline under contract with SINO Gabon. It also raises concerns over the lack of information on and reporting by GSEZ. The 2022 EITI Report does not provide any additional information on the relevant transportation taxes, tariff rates or volumes of extractive commodities transported.

The Secretariat's assessment is that Requirement 4.7 is partly met. The MSG’s ‘Transparency’ template considers the objective of ensuring disaggregation in public disclosures of company payments and government revenues from oil, gas and mining is mostly met. However, the International Secretariat considers the objective as still not fulfilled, given the lack of disaggregation of government extractive revenue data both by revenue stream and by company, as well as the lack of project-level reporting to date. Gabon’s 2022 EITI Report presents the reconciled financial data on company payments and government revenues disaggregated by revenue stream on the one hand and by company on the other hand, but not by both company and revenue stream in the same table. Thus, it is not possible to identify what a specific company paid in one payment stream (e.g. corporate income tax). The reconciled financial data in the 2022 EITI Report is not disaggregated by project for those revenue streams levied at a project level. There is no evidence that the MSG has scoped out the revenue streams levied at a project level, nor any projects that cover several substantially interconnected agreements (e.g. the COMILOG project potentially). Thus, the financial data on government extractive revenues disclosed in Gabon’s two EITI Reports to date has not been sufficiently disaggregated to allow the public to access payment flows either per company or per project.

The Secretariat's assessment is that Requirement 4.8 is fully met. The MSG’s ‘Transparency’ template considers the objective of ensuring that public disclosures of company payments and government revenues from oil, gas and mining are sufficiently timely to be relevant to inform public debate and policymaking is fully met. The International Secretariat’s view agrees with national stakeholders in considering the objective as fulfilled, even if the timeliness of Gabon’s EITI disclosures could be further improved by strengthening systematic disclosures of data required by the EITI Standard by relevant government entities and extractive companies. Gabon has made some progress in improving the timeliness of publication of its EITI Reports, publishing its 2021 EITI Report 24 months after the end of the fiscal period covered and its 2022 EITI Report some 19 months after the end of the period covered. There is evidence that the MSG approved the reporting period for the EITI Report in both cases. Given that the EITI Report appears to be the primary means of public access to much of the information required by the EITI Standard, the timeliness of Gabon’s EITI reporting could be improved through the gradual strengthening of systematic disclosures by government entities and extractive companies. Strengthening systematic disclosures of non-financial information on the sector, licenses, contracts, state participation, production and exports could help free up the MSG’s time to focus on improving the timeliness of the remaining disclosures through EITI reporting. A large majority of industry stakeholders consulted signalled their support of the submission of more timely data to align EITI reporting with their internal reporting systems.

The Secretariat's assessment is that Requirement 4.9 is partly met. The MSG’s ‘Transparency’ template considers the objective of ensuring that appropriate measures have been taken to ensure the reliability of disclosures of company payments and government revenues from oil, gas and mining is fully met. However, the International Secretariat considers the objective is not fulfilled, given the lack of adherence to the MSG-agreed quality assurances by half of the material companies that reported, even if the Supreme Audit Institution (Cour des Comptes) certified the government’s EITI reporting. While it could be argued that the technical aspects of Requirement 4.9 have been addressed, the International Secretariat considers that the broader objective of contributing to strengthening routine government and company audit and assurance systems and practices is not fulfilled, given the lack of evidence of MSG review of prevailing audit and assurance practices and the significant gaps in reporting entities’ adherence to the agreed quality assurances for their EITI reporting. Gabon’s 2021 and 2022 EITI Reports present a robust methodology for quality assurances that link EITI reporting to audited financial data, albeit based on a cursory overview of statutory audit and assurance procedures and no confirmation of whether material entities’ financial statements for the period under review had been audited. However, in 2022, only half (8 of 16) reporting companies adhered to the agreed quality assurances, while the Supreme Audit Institution (Cour des Comptes) certified all government entities’ EITI reporting even if there were gaps in management attestations from the SOEs. Nonetheless, the 2022 EITI Report includes the IA’s assessment that the reconciled financial data appears both comprehensive and reliable, although it qualifies the assessment of reliability by noting that it is subject to the impact of lack of adherence to quality assurances by half of reporting companies. The 2022 EITI Report presents a set of recommendations but does not explicitly comment on the status of follow-up on recommendations from the 2021 EITI Report. The lack of adherence to agreed quality assurance procedures by half of the reporting companies is a concern, as are the qualifications of the IA’s assessment of reliability and the only cursory review of audit and assurance rules and practices in government and extractive companies. With regards to data quality on costs, Gabon EITI published a report on oil and gas project costs, which highlighted weaknesses in the government’s oversight of cost audits and identified a conflict of interest in audited companies paying auditors per diems and covering their expenses. Yet the project costs study provides disclosures of 2021 project costs disaggregated by operator, but not between operating and capital expenditures. The study includes several recommendations for strengthening government oversight of project costs.

The Secretariat's assessment is that Requirement 5.1 is mostly met. The MSG’s ‘Transparency’ template considers the objective of ensuring the traceability of extractive revenues to the national budget and the same level of transparency and accountability for extractive revenues that are not recorded in the national budget is mostly met. The International Secretariat’s view considers the objective as only mostly fulfilled, given the lack of clarity in Gabon’s EITI reporting on whether petroleum companies’ contributions to four government-operated funds related to equipment, training and environmental impact represent forms of government revenues or mandatory social and environmental expenditures. In addition, the lack of disclosures about the management of extractive funds transferred to the sovereign wealth fund (the Gabonese Strategic Investment Fund – FGIS) is a concern, even if the 2022 EITI Report alleges that there were no transfers of extractive revenues to the FGIS in 2022. Gabon’s 2022 EITI Report confirms that all extractive revenues are transferred to the single Treasury account, although it also describes petroleum company contributions to four government-operated funds that do not appear to be recorded in the national budget. The government-operated funds include the Hydrocarbons Support Fund, the Equipment Fund, the Training Fund and the Environmental Impact Fund. The EITI Report discloses the value of five oil and gas companies’ contributions to each of the four funds in 2022 but does not clarify whether these contributions should be considered forms of petroleum company payments to the government, or rather as mandatory social and environmental expenditures. The level of reporting by only five petroleum companies also raises concerns over the comprehensiveness of company disclosures of their contributions to the four funds in 2022, particularly given the lack of reporting by the Treasury (DGCPT) of collected contributions to the four funds. The 2022 EITI Report provides a cursory description of the management of these contributions to the four funds but does not describe oversight and accountability mechanisms related to these funds, or refer to links to financial reports related to these funds. The International Secretariat considers it likely that petroleum companies’ contributions to the four funds represent forms of mandatory social and environmental expenditures rather than payments to the government (see Requirement 6.1) but concludes that the lack of clarity on this point in Gabon EITI reporting to date means that the objective of traceability of government extractive revenues to the national budget has not yet been comprehensively fulfilled. The 2022 EITI Report also describes the functioning of the Gabonese Strategic Investment Fund (FGIS), which manages the Future Generations Gabonese Fund (FSRG), a sovereign wealth fund that is partly funded by extractive revenues. The EITI Report explains that the sources of funding for the FSRG include a share of the Diversified Investment Provision (PID) and Hydrocarbons Investment Provision (PIH) paid by petroleum companies and a share of dividends paid by SOEs to the state. However, given that petroleum companies’ expenditures under PID and PIH are provided directly as social expenditures rather than contributions to a government-managed fund (see Requirement 6.1), contributions from PID and PIH to the FGIS would in practice consist of petroleum company payments to the FGIS, although this is not explicitly stated in the EITI Report, Once the FSGR’s minimum balance is reached, the EITI Report explains that the FSGR’s revenues consist of revenues from its investments and any excess budget revenues, replacing the sources of extractive revenues, which are codified in the annual government budget. Yet the 2022 EITI Report does not describe the FSRG’s balance in 2022, only explaining that the FGIS provided confirmation that no extractive revenues were transferred to the FGIS in 2022. The FGIS website provides basic information about the fund, including a 2022 annual report that provides high-level summaries of the organisation’s financial performance, but no detailed financial reports. The 2022 EITI Report’s description implies that all revenues earmarked for the FGIS are duly recorded in the national budget. However, the lack of explanation for the reasons for the lack of extractive revenue transfers to the FGIS in 2022, combined with the lack of availability of financial reports describing the management of the FGIS and FSGR, implies that more work is needed from Gabon EITI to clarify the balance, inflows and management of funds related to the FGIS and FSGR. Gabon has not yet referenced any national or international revenue classification systems in its EITI reporting.

The Secretariat's assessment is that Requirement 5.3 remains not assessed, given that several encouraged aspects of this requirement remain to be addressed by Gabon EITI. The MSG’s ‘Transparency’ template considers the objective of strengthening public oversight of the management of extractive revenues to be partly met. The International Secretariat’s view is that the objective is still far from being fulfilled, given Gabon’s use of its EITI reporting to disclose information on the government’s general energy transition plans, although there is no additional information to further public understanding and debate around issues of revenue sustainability and resource dependence. Gabon’s 2021 and 2022 EITI Reports provide only very brief descriptions of earmarked funds and the government’s budget process but have not yet described the government’s audit cycle. The EITI Reports provide information on the government’s general approach to the energy transition but without additional details such as projected production, commodity prices and revenue forecasts. Building on Gabon EITI’s demonstrated focus on energy transition considerations, there is an opportunity for Gabon to expand its use of EITI disclosures to raise public awareness of the factors influencing the government’s extractive revenues under different energy transition scenarios.

The Secretariat's assessment is that Requirement 4.6 is not applicable. The MSG’s ‘Transparency’ template considers the objective of enabling stakeholders to gain an understanding of benefits that accrue to local governments is mostly met. However, the International Secretariat considers the requirement as not applicable, given the lack of evidence of any direct subnational payments by mining or petroleum companies. While the MSG’s ‘Transparency’ template argues that Requirement 4.6 is applicable, there is no evidence in the general Tax Code, in the Mining Code or in the Hydrocarbons Code requiring petroleum or mining companies to make any direct payments to subnational government entities. Gabon’s 2022 EITI Report notes that the MSG sought to include direct subnational payments within the scope of material companies’ unilateral disclosures, but there is no evidence that any company reported any such direct subnational payments. There is no evidence in Gabon’s EITI reporting of the MSG reviewing applicable laws and regulations to assess the existence of any statutory direct subnational payments by petroleum or mining companies. There is no justification for the exclusion of direct subnational payments from the scope of reconciliation, not least since the materiality threshold for selecting revenue streams for reconciliation was set at zero (see Requirement 4.1). The 2022 EITI Report provides unclear information on whether provisions for the transfer of 60% of extraction tax to local governments represent a direct subnational payment by extractive companies or a subnational transfer by the national government. The International Secretariat’s understanding is that statutory transfers of 60% of extraction tax to the subnational governments represent a form of subnational transfer from the national government, rather than a direct subnational payment by extractive companies.

The Secretariat's assessment is that Requirement 5.2 is partly met. The MSG’s ‘Transparency’ template considers the objective of enabling stakeholders at the local level to assess whether the transfer and management of subnational transfers of extractive revenues are in line with statutory entitlements as partly met. Stakeholders consulted considered that the objective was mostly met. The Secretariat considers the objective is not fulfilled, given the limited description of the statutory subnational transfers of 60% of extraction tax and the lack of engagement on this issue by the Treasury. Gabon’s 2022 EITI Report provides inconsistent information on whether there were any statutory provisions for subnational transfers of extractive revenues in 2022, noting that none of the reporting entities reported such transfers but also raising concerns that the Treasury (DGCPT) did not report any information on such transfers despite being requested to do so. The 2022 EITI Report does not provide any information on the revenue-sharing formula, which had been provided in the 2021 EITI Report. The International Secretariat takes note of statutory provisions in Article 58 of the 2019 Mining Code (Law No. 037/2018 of 11 June 2019) requiring 60% of extraction tax to be transferred to local governments, implying that statutory rules requiring subnational transfers of a share of mining revenues were in place in 2022, rendering Requirement 5.2 applicable in the period under review.

The Secretariat's assessment is that Requirement 6.1 is mostly met. The MSG’s ‘Transparency’ template considers the objective of enabling public understanding of extractive companies’ social and environmental contributions is mostly met. The International Secretariat considers the objective as mostly fulfilled, given concerns over the comprehensiveness of extractive companies’ disclosures of their mandatory social expenditures, gaps in information about some reporting companies’ social expenditures, and a lack of clarity over the types and levels of extractive companies’ payments to the government related to the environment. Gabon’s 2022 EITI Report describes mandatory social expenditures in the petroleum and mining sectors, including social expenditures under requirements for the local community development funds (FDCL) in both sectors, as well as requirements for petroleum companies to contribute to three government-operated funds and to contribute under the Diversified Investment Provision (PID) and the Hydrocarbon Investment Provision (PIH). The EITI Report also refers to payments to the government related to the environment by both petroleum and mining companies, in the form of Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) fees, but does not provide a comprehensive list of all extractive companies’ environmental payments to the government. With regards to social expenditures, the 2022 EITI Report provides some information on both petroleum and mining companies’ social expenditures, albeit with gaps in disclosures of required information and concerns over the comprehensiveness of reporting by material companies. The 2021 EITI Report (Table 46) explains that there are no government funds established by the DGM and DGMG for the FDCL for either petroleum or mining and that extractive companies undertake social expenditures directly, having provisioned these amounts in their accounts, and not made any cash contributions to any fund. The 2022 EITI Report implies that petroleum companies’ contributions under the PID and PIH are provisions in their accounts, which are then devoted to social expenditures agreed with the state, although this is only implied and not explicitly stated in the report, which confusingly refers to “contributions” rather than “expenditures”. The EITI Report discloses five oil and gas companies’ contributions to the three government-operated funds, five oil and gas companies’ expenditures under FDCL, and six oil and gas companies’ contributions under PID and PIH. However, it is unclear why the other oil and gas companies in the scope of EITI reporting for 2022 did not report any such mandatory social expenditures (i.e. whether they undertook expenditures and did not report them to the EITI, or whether they did not undertake any such expenditures in 2022). The report also discloses two mining companies’ contributions under the FDCL, and just as for petroleum it is unclear whether this is comprehensive of all companies’ mandatory social expenditures under the FDCL. While EITI disclosures confirm that petroleum companies’ contributions to the government-operated funds are in cash, it remains unclear whether extractive companies’ social expenditures under the FDCL, PID and PIH are all in cash, or whether some expenditures are provided in kind. In addition to the lack of clarity around whether any mandatory social expenditures are made in kind, and the nature of any such in-kind expenditures, the EITI Report does not disclose the identity of any non-government beneficiaries of these social expenditures. With regards to environmental payments to the government, the 2022 EITI Report provides two petroleum companies’ and two mining companies’ disclosures of what is categorised as “environmental payments”, although the majority of these appear to consist of environmental expenditures to the benefit of third parties, rather than payments to the government. Indeed three of the four reporting companies disclosed expenditures on projects related to social and environmental infrastructure that appear to be for the benefit of communities, rather than forms of payments to government. The fourth company, Perenco, disclosed cash payments to the National Parks Agency’s Parks Maintenance Fund, which could potentially be considered a form of payment to the government. On the other hand, the 2022 EITI Report describes requirements to pay a fee to the government for the processing of EIAs, which appears to constitute an environmental payment to the government. These types of government revenues from extractive companies related to the environment have not yet been disclosed in Gabon’s EITI Reports to date. With regards to environmental expenditures to third parties, Gabon’s EITI Reports describe requirements for petroleum companies to contribute to a government-operated Environmental Impact Fund as well as to environmental rehabilitation funds. Beyond disclosing three extractive companies’ environmental expenditures to third parties (described above), the EITI Report discloses two petroleum companies’ contributions to the Environmental Impact Fund and four petroleum companies’ contributions to environmental rehabilitation funds in 2022. Yet the EITI Report raises concerns over the low level of company reporting of these environmental expenditures, raising questions over the comprehensiveness of company reporting.