Gabon's Lifeline for People, Economy

SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 22, 2019 11 Gabon’s lifeline for people, economy The train is the brainchild of Gabon’s former president, Omar Bongo, who ruled for 42 years until his death in 2009 AFP | Franceville | Gabon is Miyha Koumba, a young stu- Yates, author of “The Rentier dent in Libreville who uses it to State in Africa: Oil Rent Depend- he sky turns from indigo visit her family at the other end ency & Neocolonialism in the to ebony as the tropical of the line. Republic of Gabon”, told AFP. Tnight falls, and the train “I take the train at least four Its champions view it as a crit- patiently thrusts through the times a year. I can visit my par- ical piece of infrastructure for jungle towards its destination, ents regularly,” she said, arriving Gabon’s development. still hundreds of kilometres in Libreville at 7:00 am bleary- There is a road running par- (miles) away. eyed, having departed France- allel to the tracks. But it is rid- The trek has the hallmarks of ville at 5:30 pm the day before. dled with potholes, making the one of the world’s Great Forgot- During the day, the train hauls journey much longer, far less Today, the ten Train Journeys -- a voyage manganese -- a key export after comfortable, and dangerous too. through 648 kilometres (just oil -- from the interior to the “Bongo over 400 miles) of lush equato- oceanside capital. Derailments and elephants rial forest. In a country which has been Train”, as it is The train is the brainchild Critics and champions grappling with the effects of Omar Bongo and former French president Francois Mitterrand on the of Gabon’s former president, Touting the train as a symbol falling oil prices since 2014, the affectionately Transgabonais in January 1983 Omar Bongo, who ruled for of national unity and moderni- importance of manganese for 42 years until his death in sation, Bongo doggedly pressed the economy has ballooned. known, 2009. on with the plan, saying: “If we “Without manganese, this In the 1970s, he dreamed need to have a pact with the train could not exist,” said Gab- remains the of linking the central African Devil, we’ll do that.” onese economist Mays Mouissi. state’s resource-rich interior to Fortune smiled on Gabon’s According to an economic country’s the Atlantic coast -- and he saw it leader in 1973 when the OPEC report by the Gabonese gov - through, despite being rebuffed cartel of oil producing nations ernment, the ore accounts for a sole railway by the World Bank, which re- raised prices dramatically, fill- fourth of non-oil exports. fused to fund it on the grounds ing the country’s coffers and Although still volatile, a re- line, linking that it was not economically vi- enabling him to start con- cent surge in manganese prices 23 stations able. struction with the additional over the last couple of years has Today, the “Bongo Train”, as help of Western aid, notably boosted the country’s oil-de- from the it is affectionately known, re- from former colonial ruler pendent economy. mains the country’s sole railway France. French mining group Eramet, coastal capital line, linking 23 stations from Bongo flagged off the project which extracts 80 percent of Ga- the coastal capital Libreville to -- the largest in Africa at the time bon’s manganese, recently said Libreville distant Franceville, the country’s -- on December 30, 1973. that it wants to boost production third most populous city. It cost $1.65 billion (more than by 60 per cent by 2023. to distant French President Francois Mitterrand (L) and Gabon’s President Omar Bongo “The Transgabonais binds 1.5 billion euros), and millions But more than 33 years after inaugurate the second section of the Transgabonais railway in Franceville in Gabonese society,” declares of trees were felled to cut the the first train started rolling, the Franceville, January 1983 Christian Antchouet Roux, the swathe through the jungle for line is facing problems. stationmaster at Franceville. the track, which is unelectrified. There have been many derail- the country’s A road running parallel to the About 320,000 people take In 1986, the last stretch was ments on a stretch built on un- tracks is riddled with potholes the train every year, a sign of inaugurated in the presence stable terrain and maintenance third most its affordability for the average of then French prime minister has been poor. Gabonese. Jacques Chirac. Train services have been fur- populous city. Ticket prices depend on the Critics of the project have long ther compromised by techni- time of year and class -- the train pointed to its cost, to its use as a cal problems, while elephants has a VIP carriage, as well as first political tool for Bongo, whose wandering over the tracks have and second classes. partisan stronghold was centred caused delays. Passengers travel only at in the region where Franceville To keep the line going, a mas- nighttime but in air-conditioned is located, and to French in - sive eight-year revamp was comfort -- a rarity in the world’s volvement. launched in 2015, costing an es- poorest continent -- and the blue “Since its creation, the Trans- timated 330 million euros. and yellow compartments are gabonais has been closely linked More than half of the total will modern. to France and its interests,” US be financed by France together One of them law professor Douglas with, ironically, the World Bank. A file picture of the January 18, 1983, inauguration of part of Trans-Gabon Railway.

Load more