Haut-Ogooué

Haut-Ogooué covers 36,547 km² and has eleven departments. The most populous in 2013 were Mpassa (seat Franceville, 129,694 inhabitants), Lemboumbi-Leyou (Moanda, 64,569) and Sébé-Brikolo (Okondja, 16,443). They are followed by Lékoni-Lékori (Akiéni), Plateaux (Lékoni), Lékoko (Bakoumba), Lékabi-Léwolo (Ngouoni), Djouori-Agnili (Bongoville), Ogooué-Létili (Boumango), Djoué (Onga) and Bayi-Brikolo (Aboumi).

Franceville, also known as Masuku, lies 512 km south-east of Libreville. Moanda is the province's main mining centre.

The 2013 general population and housing census (RGPL) recorded 250,799 inhabitants (6.9 per km²). According to the 2026 census results, validated by the Constitutional Court on 27 August 2026, the province has 297,100 inhabitants. At national level, these results are well above World Bank and United Nations estimates and have prompted debate in the press.

Manganese at Moanda

Founded in 1953, Comilog has mined the Moanda deposit since 1962; Eramet became its main shareholder in 1996. Eramet describes the mine as the largest manganese mine in the world. Alongside the Bangombé plateau, Comilog opened the Okouma deposit in 2023, which is expected to raise its production capacity to 10 million tonnes a year over time. The company reports producing 6.8 million tonnes of ore in 2024 and employs about 2,000 people directly.

Part of the ore is processed on site. The Moanda industrial complex (CIM), opened in 2000, produces a manganese sinter used to make ferromanganese. The Moanda metallurgical complex (CMM), built between 2009 and 2013 and opened in 2015, produces manganese oxide (MnO) among other products, used in fertilisers, animal feed, welding and batteries.

Other mining activities

Other operators are present: Nouvelle Gabon Mining, a subsidiary of the Indian Coalsale group, opened a manganese processing unit at Biniomi near Franceville in 2017 and signed an agreement in 2020 for the Okondja deposit. In the past, the province also produced uranium: Compagnie des mines d'uranium de Franceville (COMUF) mined the Mounana deposit from 1961 to 1999. The region's geology is also known for the Oklo natural nuclear reactor.

The Trans-Gabon railway, about 648 km long, links the port of Owendo to Franceville, its eastern terminus, via Moanda. The Booué-Franceville section opened on 30 December 1986. The line is operated by Société d'exploitation du Transgabonais (Setrag), a Comilog subsidiary, and carries Moanda ore to Comilog's mineral terminal at Owendo, as well as passengers, goods and timber. Franceville is also the end point of national road 3.

Mvengue El Hadj Omar Bongo Ondimba international airport, 16 km west of Franceville, has a 3,200-metre runway and scheduled flights to Libreville.

On the Ogooué, the Grand Poubara hydroelectric plant (160 MW) was completed in 2013.

Education and research

Franceville hosts the Université des sciences et techniques de Masuku (USTM), founded in 1986, which includes a science faculty, the Masuku polytechnic school and the national higher institute of agronomy and biotechnology (INSAB). The city is also home to the Franceville international medical research centre (CIRMF), which specialises in tropical diseases and primate studies.

Batéké Plateau national park (2,034 km²), created in 2002, lies in the south-east of the province. It protects the mix of savanna and forest typical of the Batéké plateaux and has been on UNESCO's World Heritage tentative list since 2005. In 2015 the presence of a lion was documented there; commercial hunting remains one of the main threats to its wildlife. Like the country's other parks, it is managed by the national parks agency (Agence nationale des parcs nationaux, ANPN).

At the mining sites, Eramet reports having rehabilitated 581 hectares of the Bangombé plateau over five years and having set aside 10% of the Okouma plateau to preserve biodiversity.