World Bank helps Gabon finance digital transformation project with $68.5m loan

Gabon has secured a credit facility of $68.5 million to finance “Projet Digital Gabon”, a digital transformation project aiming at creating an environment conducive to accelerating digital transformation.

The deal was signed late December by Mays Mouissi, Gabon’s Minister of Economy, and the World Bank Country Director for the Central African country, Cheick Fantamady Kanté, Gabon Review reported Wednesday January 3.

“Digital transformation has been at the heart of the country’s economic and social transformation over the past decade,” Kante said. “This is essential to promote opportunities for all Gabonese citizens and residents. This will benefit individuals and businesses by improving the affordability, availability and quality of public service provision,” he added.

The project, to phase out in June 2026, also aims at modernizing legal identity systems (ID) and establishing modern, robust and digitized legal identification systems to provide all people in Gabon with unique and inclusive legal identification information that protects personal data and facilitates access to services.

Gabon also expects, through the project, to achieve the digital transformation of public administration and selected services to improve their efficiency using digital solutions as part of a user-centric approach.

The loan is the first deal between the two sides since the World Bank resumed in December 2023 its activities following several months of suspension following a military coup that removed former leader Ali Bongo Odimba.