Chinese overseas lending / GAB
Gabon: debt owed to China
In 2021, Gabon is estimated to have owed China $1.48bn, equal to 7.6% of its GDP, which ranks it 53 of 126 borrowers in the panel by dollars owed. The estimated stock peaked at $1.55bn in 2020.
The estimated stock, 2000 to 2021
The largest single-year move in the estimated stock is 2014, when it rose by $223m.
Source: Horn, Reinhart and Trebesch, China’s Overseas Lending. Selection: estimated stock owed to China by Gabon, by year and instrument, 2000 to 2021. Zeros are estimated zeros (no known loans outstanding), not missing values. Methodology
Historical loan records from the 2021 release
These records come from the 2021 HRT Mendeley replication release, not the November 2025 refreshed stock panel charted above. The refresh uses the updated Franz, Horn, Parks, Reinhart and Trebesch methodology, so this table cannot be reconciled to the chart. The earlier release marks 11 loan-level records for Gabon as part of its debt-estimate sample, spanning 2000 to 2016. Comparable commitments are available for 11 of those loans and sum to $1.18bn. These are gross commitments, not outstanding debt stocks. The stock methodology applies disbursement and amortisation profiles, with imputation where loan terms are missing, so the commitment sum must not be compared with the stock above. See the methodology. Terms are sparse by source: interest rate appears on 6 loans, grace period on 7, maturity on 8, any of the three on 9, and all three together on 4. The earlier file also carries 31 additional project rows for Gabon outside that sample, so they are not included in this table.
| Year | Project | Commitment, USD | Commitment, source currency | Terms | Creditor | Type |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2016 | Farasol Mbega-Port-Gentil Road; 22 km ID: GAB_41 · Source: JH CARI | $103m | n/a | rate 4.2% | grace 3y | maturity 15y | China Export-Import Bank (Ex-Im) State-owned policy bank | Loan Commercial · borrower Central government |
| 2015 | Construction of Port Gentil Stadium ID: GAB_38 · Source: JH CARI | $93m | n/a | rate n/a | grace 2y | maturity 10y | Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC) State-owned commercial bank | Loan Commercial · borrower Central government |
| 2015 | Oyem Stadium ID: GAB_39 · Source: JH CARI | $79m | n/a | rate n/a | grace 2y | maturity 10y | Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC) State-owned commercial bank | Loan Commercial · borrower Central government |
| 2014 | Gabonese Administration Network (RAG); Phase II ID: GAB_37 · Source: JH CARI | $108m | n/a | rate n/a | grace n/a | maturity n/a | Zhongxing Telecommunication Equipment Corporation (ZTE) State-owned enterprise | Loan Commercial · borrower Central government |
| 2013 | China loans Gabon 64.8 billion CFA Franc for road connecting Port Gentil and Omboue ID: GAB_35 · Source: AidData, JH CARI | $131m | XAF 64,800,000,000 | rate 2% | grace 7y | maturity 20y | China Export-Import Bank (Ex-Im) State-owned policy bank | Loan Concessional · borrower Central government |
| 2013 | China funds construction of three vocational schools in Gabon ID: GAB_34 · Source: AidData, JH CARI | $102m | USD 102,000,000 | rate 2% | grace 5y | maturity 15y | China Export-Import Bank (Ex-Im) State-owned policy bank | Loan Concessional · borrower Central government |
| 2011 | China Exim Bank provides $128 million loan To Gabon for electricity grid overhaul ID: GAB_31 · Source: AidData, BU Energy, JH CARI | $128m | USD 128,000,000 | rate 2.5% | grace n/a | maturity 20y | China Export-Import Bank (Ex-Im) State-owned policy bank | Loan Concessional · borrower Central government |
| 2010 | ICBC loans $109.9 million for Moanda Metallurgical Complex in Gabon ID: GAB_27 · Source: AidData | $110m | USD 109,900,000 | rate n/a | grace 7y | maturity 8y | Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC) State-owned commercial bank | Loan Commercial · borrower Private sector |
| 2008 | Loan for Grand Poubara Hydroelectric Project ID: GAB_20 · Source: AidData, BU Energy, JH CARI | $318m | USD 318,000,000 | rate 3% | grace 7y | maturity 20y | China Export-Import Bank (Ex-Im) State-owned policy bank | Loan Concessional · borrower Central government |
| 2005 | Libreville Friendship Hospital Construction; Franceville Friendship Hospital Repais; Liberville Chinese Medical Camp ID: GAB_13 · Source: AidData, JH CARI | $3.00m | n/a | rate 0% | grace n/a | maturity n/a | China Ministry of Commerce (MofCom) Chinese government | Loan Zero-Interest Loan · borrower Central government |
| 2000 | China funds renovation of Gabonese National Assembly Building ID: GAB_6 · Source: AidData | $2.60m | USD 2,600,000 | rate n/a | grace n/a | maturity n/a | Unspecified Chinese government agency Unspecified Chinese government agency | Loan Concessional · borrower Central government |
Source: Horn, Reinhart and Trebesch, China’s Overseas Lending (2021 Mendeley replication loan file). Selection: 2021 replication loan records mapped to Gabon and flagged DebtEstimateSample = 1 in that release. This is an earlier source universe, not the records used for the November 2025 refreshed stock panel. CommitmentUSD is a gross commitment flow and is not comparable to the charted stock. Commitment stays in its source currency, and ProjectDescription is rendered as free-text data from the file. Methodology
Against what Gabon reports owing to all creditors
Gabon reported $7.83bn of total external debt to all creditors in 2021, of which $6.39bn is public and publicly guaranteed. The China estimate is 18.9% of the reported external total and 23.1% of the reported public and guaranteed stock. These are ratios of two different measurements, one estimated and one borrower-reported, and they are not a share of a single consistent total.
| Measure, 2021 | Estimated, owed China | Reported, all creditors | Ratio, % |
|---|---|---|---|
| Total external debt | $1.48bn | $7.83bn | 18.9% |
| Public and publicly guaranteed | $1.48bn | $6.39bn | 23.1% |
Source: Horn, Reinhart and Trebesch, China’s Overseas Lending (estimated stocks), and World Bank International Debt Statistics, borrower-reported via the Debtor Reporting System (all-creditor stocks). Selection: estimated external and PPG stock owed to China in 2021 against Gabon's reported DT.DOD.DECT.CD and DT.DOD.DPPG.CD for the same year. Drawn swap balances are excluded from the estimated column: they are a central-bank liability the Debtor Reporting System's long-term-debt concepts do not carry. Methodology