Gabon’s Tax Breaks Hand Companies $690 Million

Gabon gave up 403 billion CFA francs in tax revenue in 2024—about US$690 million—through tax breaks that disproportionately benefited oil, mining and financial firms, according to the World Bank’s Gabon Public Finance Review 2026. The sum equaled 3.2% of gross domestic product and 22% of public revenue. Companies that received the relief didn’t have to prove their promised benefits had materialized: the World Bank said officials had never rigorously assessed their commitments.

Who Gets the Tax Privilege

Oil and mining firms received 31% of the revenue lost through tax breaks. Local breweries received 8%, and banks 6%. Exemptions meant to lower the cost of basic goods accounted for 5.8% in the report’s text, though its chart assigns them 13%. The report doesn’t explain the discrepancy.

Domestic value-added tax exemptions made up the largest category. They cost 206.9 billion CFA francs, or about US$354 million. The oil refinery received 41% of that relief, banks received 25%, and telecommunications companies received 9%. Excise relief totaled 32.6 billion CFA francs, about US$56 million, and went almost entirely to locally brewed beer.

Customs exemptions cost 155.9 billion CFA francs, or about US$267 million. More than a quarter went to oil and mining, while 15% went to the cost-of-living programme. Corporate tax relief totaled 7.6 billion CFA francs, about US$13 million; the timber industry received 62%.

The World Bank said the breaks kept growing after 2022, despite a regional ban on discretionary exemptions. It also found that some oil and mining companies offset VAT refunds against other taxes without any legal provision allowing them to do so. The paperwork of privilege, it seems, has its own shortcuts.

Public Revenue, Private Leverage

Gabon’s non-oil tax revenue averaged 10.5% of GDP between 2014 and 2024, below the level in other upper-middle-income countries, the World Bank said. The bank attributed the shortfall to tax breaks and weak compliance, not low tax rates. Oil generated about 40% of public revenue and 60% of export earnings in 2024, leaving the budget exposed to oil-price changes.

The World Bank recommended removing exemptions that may lack a legal basis, limiting stability clauses in new agreements, and creating a joint body of tax, customs and other agencies to supervise incentives. It estimated that eliminating half of the tax breaks outside the cost-of-living programme could raise up to 1.5% of GDP over the medium term. Those proposals would change how the state manages incentives; they don’t, on their own, undo the concentration of economic power reflected in who receives the exemptions.

The same report estimated public debt at more than 80% of GDP in 2025. Gabon relies on foreign bond buyers, and the finance ministry announced a US$580 million, eight-year bond on 14 October with a 9.375% coupon. The World Bank presented its tax proposals as a way to contain debt while protecting priority investment.

A Budget Kept from Public View

The Council of Ministers adopted the 2027 budget bill on 18 September as part of the 2026 to 2030 national growth and development plan. On 15 October, the Federation of Gabonese Enterprises, which says it has about 1,100 member companies, told the Economic, Social, Environmental and Cultural Council it hadn’t received a copy. The bill wasn’t public by mid-October, leaving it unclear whether any exemptions would be reduced. No government response to the World Bank’s recommendations was reported.

President Brice Clotaire Oligui Nguema reshuffled the government on 11 October and swore in eight new ministers on 15 October. He said each would receive a roadmap with figures and deadlines, naming water, electricity, jobs and roads as priorities. Oligui Nguema seized power in the August 2023 coup that ended the Bongo family’s long rule and won the April 2025 presidential election.

The World Bank published its review on 29 September. Its breakdown covers only taxes with available data, so the full cost may be higher. The exemptions are counted; the public budget remains out of sight.