Overview
Gabon, as all oil exporters, is being hit by two shocks—the global impacts of COVID-19 and the decline in oil prices last year. Government policy is responding to both these developments. The first confirmed COVID-19 case was reported on March 12, 2020. Authorities have taken early action attempting to suppress COVID19. They have been following WHO-recommended measures and enhancing them over time. The primary measures, which included bans on social gatherings and travel restrictions have been enhanced over time to closing all borders, the air space, imposing a night curfew and a full lockdown in Libreville since Easter Sunday, as cases started to increase.
Reopening of the economy. . Since April 27 2020, some of these measures were relaxed, including the full lockdown in Libreville. A second reopening wave started on July 1 with the reopening of commercial flights twice per week per company from Libreville and a reduced night curfew from 8pm till 5am. Since mid-August commercial flights were further relaxed to three flights per company per week departing from Gabon. Public schools reopened on November 7, 2020. All passengers arriving in Libreville's airport from abroad must show a negative test performed in the last five days. At arrival, they are once more tested by Gabonese authorities in the airport for posterior tracing. On October 10, a new round of relaxation of the preventive measures was announced, allowing restaurants and religious centers to resume activity and shortening the night curfew from 10pm till 5am. Such gradual reopening of the economy was based on a comprehensive-testing strategy with a capability of around 10,000 tests to be performed per day and with the equivalent of close to thirty percent of the population tested, making the country one with the highest rates of testing per capita of sub-Saharan Africa. The Gabonese parliament also launched at the end of the first semester a Parliamentary Inquire Committee to investigate the quality and transparency of the Covid-19 expenditures by the government. At the same time an aggressive second wave of infections has hit the country since mid-January 2021 and the preventive measures have been strengthened. The night curfew has been re-enlarged from 6 pm until 5am, causing business to close around 3pm. The capital, Libreville, has been put in confinement for domestic travelers and only two international flights per company can land in Gabon per week again. Masks became compulsory for the population above 5 years-old and restaurants and shops must demand a negative test from clients within the last seven days. The social-distancing measures announced in mid-January 2021 have been somewhat relaxed on May 29, 2021, with the recent decline in the number of infections and active cases in the country. With such slowdown of the Covid-19 second wave, the authorities shortened the night curfew to start at 9pm instead of 6pm. All night bars and restaurants can now reopen up to 8:30pm with the requirement of requesting vaccination proofs or PCR tests (within one week) from clients. Finally, passengers coming from abroad will need to show a Covid-19 vaccination card. Otherwise, they will need to quarantine for 48 hours in a hotel indicated by the government. Meanwhile on March 12, 2021, the government received in Libreville the donation of 100,000 doses of the Sinopharm vaccine from Chinese authorities. A second batch with 300,000 doses of Synopharm vaccine donations from Chinese authorities arrived in Libreville on May 9, 2021. Vaccination started on March 23, 2021 with the Minister of Health announcing a national vaccination strategy in which health workers dealing with Covid-19 and patients with severe comorbidities will be vaccinated first.
Travel Restrictions
Movement Restrictions
- Is a curfew in place? Yes
- A curfew is in place in the capital of Libreville from 18:00 to 05:00.
- Are there restrictions on intercity or interstate travel? Yes
- A COVID-19 test showing negative results taken within 14 calendar days of travel is required to travel between cities and provinces in Gabon.
Transportation Options
- Are commercial flights operating? Yes
- Commercial air travel continues with limited international flights per airline per week. Crossing land and sea borders for commercial goods and services requires prior authorization. Tourists are not permitted to arrive by land or sea.
- Is public transportation operating? Yes
- Masks are obligatory in all public transit vehicles. Taxis are operating at half capacity, limiting ridership to no more than 2 passengers per car. Taxi buses are similarly limited in ridership. In practice, however, many of these rules are ignored.
Fines for Non-Compliance
- Fines for not wearing a facemask will range from 25,000 to 200,000 FCFA.
- Fines for exceeding the 30-person limit on gatherings will range from 100,000 to 5,000,000 FCFA.
Economic Measures
Key Policy Responses as of June 3, 2021
FISCAL
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The Amended Budget Law approved in end-June 2020 proposed the control of non-priority expenditure and redirects savings and development partners support of FCFA 73.9 billion (USD 138.1 million or 0.83 percent of GDP) to COVID-19 related spending. The government also plans to allocate additional FCFA 108 billion (USD 194.1 million or 1.2 percent of GDP) as an economic response, including through food stamps, electricity and water subsidies, direct support to SMEs and tax holidays. The Minister of Finance has created a fund available at their Caisse de Depots et Consignation (CDC) and designated a public accountant in order to facilitate disbursements of the health-related spending of that fund. An additional mechanism of around USD 375 million has further been announced to facilitate access to commercial banks financing for private (formal and informal) companies, including SMEs. The promulgated 2021 Budget Law allocates FCFA 3 billion (USD 6 million) for additional Covid-19 expenditures.
MONETARY AND MACRO-FINANCIAL
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On March 27, 2020, BEAC announced a set of monetary easing measures including a decrease of the policy rate by 25 bps to 3.25 percent, a decrease of the Marginal Lending Facility rate by 100 bps to 5 percent, a suspension of absorption operations, an increase of liquidity provision from FCFA 240 to 500 billion, and a widening of the range of private instruments accepted as collateral in monetary operations. The MPC also supported BEAC’s management’s intent to propose to reduce haircuts applicable to private instruments accepted as collateral for refinancing operations, and to postpone by one-year principal repayment of consolidated central bank’s credits to member states, but these possible additional measures are not effective yet. Further, at its July 22, 2020, extraordinary Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) meeting the BEAC announced a new program of government securities purchases for the next 6 months. The purchase program is meant as a safety net, to ensure full cover of government securities issuances during the second half of 2020, while being consistent with BEAC Charter which prohibits direct monetary financing. The program will be based on revised securities issuance plans for each country, consistent with the latest revised budget laws and the budget financing frameworks agreed under the IMF programs. The BEAC also decided to resume liquidity injections with longer maturity, of up to one year.
On March 25, 2020, the COBAC informed banks that they can use their capital conservation buffers of 2.5 percent to absorb pandemic-related losses but requested banks to adopt a restrictive policy with regard to dividend distribution.
Civic Freedom Tracker
BAN ON PUBLIC GATHERINGS
The government prohibits gatherings of more than 30 people on account of the coronavirus. (See primary source or citation here)
Type: order
Date Introduced: 16 Mar 2020
Issue(s): Assembly
