Freedom in the World, the Freedom House flagship survey whose findings have been published annually since 1972, is the standard-setting comparative assessment of global political rights and civil liberties. The survey ratings and narrative reports on 194 countries and 14 territories are used by policymakers, the media, international corporations, civic activists, and human rights defenders to monitor trends in democracy and track improvements and setbacks in freedom worldwide. The Freedom in the World political rights and civil liberties ratings are determined through a multi-layered process of research and evaluation by a team of regional analysts and eminent scholars. The analysts used a broad range of sources of information, including foreign and domestic news reports, academic studies, nongovernmental organizations, think tanks, individual professional contacts, and visits to the region, in conducting their research. The methodology of the survey is derived in large measure from the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, and these standards are applied to all countries and territories, irrespective of geographical location, ethnic or religious composition, or level of economic development.

Given the decline in oil prices from mid-2014 on, the government’s drive to diversify the economy away from its traditional reliance on hydrocarbons in line with its Emerging Gabon Strategic Plan has taken on greater importance. Drawing on its sizeable timber and mineral reserves, Gabon aims to develop new industries and boost domestic value added with the ultimate goal of achieving emerging market status by 2025. In the meantime, however, weaker oil prices will likely cause complications for the next two to three years, as the authorities grapple with lower budgets and greater debt challenges.

In recent years, the country has sought to accelerate economic diversification, emphasising growth in its industrial, agricultural and service sectors. The second-biggest economy of the Economic and Monetary Community of Central Africa, which the country is chairing in 2013, Gabon has a population of 1.6m, according to the most recent data available from the World Bank. The country benefits from a wide base of natural resources, including large mineral deposits and timber, as well as arable land – all of which have helped feed its export revenues and boost headline indicators. However, it is the oil and gas sector that has been the dominant sector, with the country’s onshore and offshore blocks making it the fifth-largest producer on the continent. Production has been maturing recently, prompting the search to shift to deep-offshore blocks, but also encouraging greater diversification through the government’s Gabon Emergent strategy, which looks to channel capital and activity into key sectors such as tourism and manufacturing.

Gabon is an upper middle-income country, with reasonable spending on health, however, its health outcomes resemble that of a country that is low / low-middle income. Where has Gabon gone wrong, and what are the challenges that Gabon is facing in improving health outcomes?

With just 1.63m people, Gabon is the second-smallest member of the six-country Central African Economic and Monetary Community in terms of population, after Equatorial Guinea. However, the country’s well-developed hydrocarbons sector has made Gabon the second-largest economy in the sub-region. The economy of Gabon has largely developed on the back of the country’s substantial oil and gas resources; however, declining production levels are leading the government to pursue a strategy of economic diversification. While efforts to encourage new investment and offshore oil exploration may yet yield results, the development of other industries, including forestry and mining, is being encouraged. Meanwhile, like many African countries, Gabon is working to ensure that a larger percentage of natural resource wealth is channelled into the national economy.