According to data published by the General Directorate of Economy and Fiscal Policy (DEPF), national manganese production recorded a 2.5% decline over the entire year. This downward trend has been observed continuously for three years. In terms of volume, Gabonese manganese production is expected to reach around 9.1 million tonnes in 2025, compared to 9.4 million tonnes in 2024. According to the DEPF, this decrease is mainly due to persistent logistical difficulties, in a context where the ore transportation chain remains a critical factor for the extractive sector, a pillar of the country’s export revenue.
Despite this unfavorable annual trend, the fourth quarter of 2025 brought a more encouraging signal. During this period, the national manganese production index increased by 10.8%, supported by better yields in the mining basins of Moanda and Franceville. This partial recovery reflects a temporary improvement in mining activity, driven by better operational performance at production sites.
However, this temporary improvement was mitigated by a slight decrease in evacuations to the port of Owendo, the main mineral export hub. Constraints at this level limited the positive impact of the quarterly production increase on actual export volumes.
The decline observed in 2025 follows the difficulties encountered in 2024, a year in which manganese production had already dropped by 5.3%, to 9.442 million tonnes. This underperformance was fueled by a combination of internal and external factors, including the slowdown in rail traffic due to the Transgabonais works, the aging of facilities in Ndjolé, as well as delays in the allocation of exploitation permits for neighboring sites of Biniomi and Bordeaux.
In the short term, the trajectory of manganese production in Gabon remains closely dependent on the resolution of logistical bottlenecks and the acceleration of modernization investments. In a context of commodity market volatility, these challenges determine the country’s ability to stabilize and sustainably revive one of its main economic drivers.
