📋 Tender Overview
Scope :
The Gabonese government and Transgabonais Exploitation Company (Setrag), concessionaire of the country’s 648km Transgabonais railway, have signed an additional financing agreement for the railway’s renovation programme.
Known as the Plan de Remise a Niveau (PRN), the €509 million (US$547.8 million) programme has been underway since 2015 and aims to modernise and increase the capacity of the entire single-track line, which was built between 1974 and 1986.
The additional financing will enable the replacement of the track between Owendo and Franceville and passenger trains to be acquired under phase one of the PRN.
The Transgabonais Railway links the Owendo mineral port on the country’s western Gulf of Guinea coast to Franceville in the southern province of Haut-Ogooue. It transports both passengers and freight across five provinces and is a vital infrastructure link for Gabon, carrying the country’s manganese ore production to Owendo for export to international markets.
238km of track has been modernised so far, and the additional financing will facilitate the upgrade of the remaining line, expected to take three to four years to complete. Since the start of the PRN, the volume of rail freight transported has increased by more than 70%. The IFC and French development agency AFD are providing funding for the PRN.
In 2021, Setrag and the government agreed an additional €197 million capital expenditure plan called PRN2, which aims to further increase the capacity of the Transgabonais Railway to reach a total of 19 million tonnes by 2027, from 12 million currently.
In 2005, Setrag was appointed concessionaire of the railway for 30 years. It is 51% owned by Compagnie Miniere de l'Ogooue (Comilog), 40% by France's Meridiam and 9% by the Gabonese state. Comilog is majority-owned by French mining group Eramet, while the state holds a 28.9% stake.
