Gabon has officially started building the 780-kilometer-long "Transgabonaise" highway, which will divide Gabon from west to southeast. With the help of financing from the French investment fund Meridiam, the $1 billion project was obtained in the form of a public-private partnership.

It aims to improve communication within Gabon and with neighboring countries such as Cameroon, Equatorial Guinea and Congo-Brazzaville. The project will be built by Societe Autoroutiere du Gabon (SAG), which is owned by Meridiam and African infrastructure investment company Arise Investments. SAG will operate and maintain this road for 30 years.

The Prime Minister of Gabon, Ross Christian Osuka Rabanda, announced on September 25 that the project was open. She commented: “President Ali Bongo stated that the project will be completed in 2023, so the government will pay close attention to its construction.”

Most areas of Gabon, but not all areas, are connected to the road network, most of which are not paved, and are centered on 7 national routes, which are identified as N1 to N7.

Transgabonaise will traverse 6 of the country’s 9 provinces and will replace part of the N1 and N3 roads, which are already congested by traffic. Work on the project was originally scheduled to start in July 2020, but was delayed due to the coronavirus pandemic.Editor/Huang Lijun