Gabon’s government, Électricité de France Power Solutions (EDF Power Solutions), and Gabon Power Company (GPC) have signed a binding protocol to develop a 400 MW hydropower facility at Booué, a move that would increase the country’s installed generation capacity by more than 50% and begin to close a supply gap that has long constrained business expansion in one of Central Africa’s most resource-rich economies.
The mutual commitment protocol, signed on 20 July, was witnessed by Gabon’s transitional president Brice Oligui Nguema and French President Emmanuel Macron. The three parties must now conclude a binding development agreement by 31 October, which will define the project budget, the division of responsibilities, and a study schedule. A monthly steering committee will monitor progress.
The Booué project arrives at a critical moment for Gabon’s energy infrastructure. The country’s current installed generation capacity stands at 700 MW, while its 2026–2030 National Development Plan projects national demand reaching 1,039 MW by 2030.
Businesses and households currently endure more than 200 hours of power outages annually — a figure that has suppressed industrial activity and deterred investment in a country that holds significant oil, manganese, and timber resources.
A 400 MW addition would push total installed capacity past 1,100 MW, providing headroom above projected 2030 demand if the project is delivered on schedule. Feasibility studies were formally launched on 1 June, with GPC and World Bank teams on site, and the International Finance Corporation (IFC) — the World Bank Group’s private-sector lending arm — confirmed its interest in supporting the project that same month.
The protocol follows two earlier memoranda of understanding signed in October 2025 and May 2026, suggesting the partnership has been carefully structured before committing to binding terms. The involvement of EDF Power Solutions, the project-development subsidiary of France’s state-controlled utility, alongside IFC backing, signals the kind of multilateral and commercial alignment that large-scale African infrastructure projects typically require to reach financial close.
Gabon’s energy challenge mirrors a broader pattern across Central Africa, where rapid urbanisation and resource-sector growth are outpacing generation investment. Hydropower — given the region’s river systems — remains the preferred long-term solution for baseload supply, though project timelines and financing complexity have historically slowed delivery.
The Booué agreement’s structured milestones and high-level political visibility suggest an attempt to avoid those delays.
Whether the October deadline for the binding development agreement holds will be an early test of the project’s momentum.
