Gabon has locked in a €312 million financing package to push forward the third phase of the Transgabonais Railway’s modernization and safety program. The move will strengthen the country’s mining-led growth and improve passenger and freight connectivity across the 648 km corridor linking Owendo port to Franceville.
The agreement was signed on July 20 in Paris between the International Finance Corporation (IFC), Proparco and Setrag, the railway’s concessionaire. The package comprises €225 million in new financing and €87 million in refinancing of earlier phases, with IFC providing up to €192 million and Proparco up to €120 million. It complements public funding already secured by Gabon, including a €173 million sovereign loan from AFD agreed in late 2025 and a €30 million EU grant under the Global Gateway initiative, according to International Financial Cooperation.
Funds will be deployed under Phase III of the Programme de modernisation et de sécurisation (PMS) to renew track, install heavier 60 kg rails, upgrade engineering structures and modernise signalling and safety systems. Since the PMS began, 457km of track has been renewed with concrete sleepers and 186km fitted with new rails, laying the groundwork for higher axle loads and more reliable services. Operational targets aim to move the line closer to its nominal capacity, with ambitions of up to eight trains per day in each direction on the busiest segments.
Implementation of Phase III will focus on launching tenders for works packages, scheduling construction on the most heavily used sections, and coordinating Setrag’s investments with those financed directly by the state and its development partners.
The Transgabonais is Gabon’s only rail backbone and a critical link in the manganese value chain, moving ore from Comilog’s Haut-Ogooué mines to the Owendo terminal for export, while also carrying timber, general cargo and passengers. Authorities frame the upgrade as central to Gabon’s plan to raise mining’s contribution to GDP from around 6% today toward 25% by 2030, by cutting logistics costs and improving export reliability.
Setrag operates the railway under a 30-year concession that was later extended by 10 years to 2045. Shareholders are Eramet/Comilog (51%), Meridiam (40%) and the Gabonese state (9%). Setrag is responsible for railway superstructure, plus maintenance and renewal works, while the state retains responsibility for public infrastructure assets such as bridges, hydraulic works and passenger transport infrastructure.
The Transgabonais deal arrives amid a wave of corridor investments aimed at unlocking Africa’s mineral potential. In Southern Africa, the $753 million Lobito Corridor Railway Project reached financial close last month, rehabilitating the 1,300km Benguela Railway to link Angola’s Port of Lobito with the DRC and, eventually, Zambia.
East Africa is seeing a $1.4 billion revitalization of the Tanzania–Zambia Railway Authority to modernize the Dar es Salaam–Copperbelt corridor, while West Africa’s 1,028km Abidjan–Lagos Corridor has entered its investment phase following a joint AfDB–ECOWAS financing mission.
In Guinea, approval of the Environmental and Social Impact Assessment for Phase One of the $1.8 billion Liberty Corridor paves the way for rail and logistics infrastructure to serve Simandou iron ore and Liberian projects.
