Three years after the 2023 campaign, the Ministry of Planning and Prospective is preparing survey tools during the July-August period to refine the allocation lists. The intervention aims to eliminate inclusion errors, reintegrate unfairly excluded households, and base public assistance distribution on reliable socio-economic indicators.

The revision of eligibility criteria is necessary given the extent of vulnerabilities affecting the population. Demographic assessments by the African Development Bank estimate 2.5 million inhabitants in Gabon, a country where unemployment affects 20.1% of the active population in 2024, reaching 36% among young people and 28.7% among women. Despite a forecast of limited growth in gross domestic product, averaging 2.4% over the 2025-2027 period, World Bank analyses predict a moderate reduction in poverty rates below the $6.85 per day threshold, declining from 37.8% in 2025 to 35.8% in 2027. This trajectory nonetheless leaves 970,000 people, or over a third of the national population, in persistent material deprivation by the end of the period.

The redeployment of state assistance aims to maximize the efficiency of monetary transfers and public health coverage. By redefining the legal status of 'economically vulnerable Gabonese' based on updated field data, the authorities intend to rationalize the use of budgetary resources. The update of public registers will enable the concentration of financial efforts on the most urgent urban and rural poverty pockets, ensuring better protection for vulnerable social groups in the face of rising living costs.


Nlend Flore

Tags: gabon pauvreté recensement économie développement population chômage vulnérabilité politique sociale