AFRICA GABON WOOD INDUSTRIES
Responsible forestry in the Gabon Special Economic Zone
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Preserve and
Prosper Since 2012 Gabon Wood Industries has been responsibly operating a 400,000-hectare area of forest, combining economic stimulus with environmental stewardship Writer: Tom Wadlow | Project Manager: Vivek Valmiki
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abon – a central African enclave rich in natural resources and blanketed by forest. With just 1.9 million people spread over an area of 268,000 square kilometres, it is a sparsely populated country with 59 percent of its people living in either Libreville, the capital, or Port Gentil, the economic epicentre. Africa’s fifth largest oil exporter, Gabon is rated by the World Bank as an upper-middle-income nation thanks to a decade of strong economic growth. However, with oil reserves declining, the government has recognised the need to diversify and industries such as forestry are an obvious place to look – after all, forests cover 85 percent of the country’s land. This is where organisations like Gabon Wood Industries (GWI) will have a crucial role to play. Founded in 2012, it owns 400,000 hectares of forest in the Gabon Special Economic Zone (GSEZ) in the south of the country, responsibly producing around 400,000 square metres of round logs a year. Eric van Mierlo is the Company’s Assistant Managing Director and a true industry veteran. “My timber career started in 1964
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with, at that time, Holland’s biggest timber company FYNHOUT, which does not exist anymore due to mismanagement,” he recalls. “In 1966 I moved as an expat to Cameroon, and after that to the Ivory Coast, Liberia and Congo Brazzaville. Then, from London, I was commercialising and purchasing lumber from these African countries to Europe.
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GWI’S SIX OBJECTIVES Since establishing in 2012, GWI has operated with six core goals in mind: To participate actively in the economic, social and provincial development in Gabon by setting up downstream wood-based industries like veneer, moulding and plywood production. To increase job opportunities, business opportunities and generate income for the people of Gabon. To cooperate with the government in its national effort on forest management development and to promote investment and business ventures between the Gabon and Malaysia. To help our customers to be more successful and to create value for our shareholders, customers, employees and the Gabonese Republic. To promote the export market development and local market distribution of timber related products. To provide reliable and long-term quality timber products to the timber processing industries.
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“In 1995, I moved to South Gabon/Mayumba where about 40,000 cubic metres of logs were blocked by authorities, again due to mismanagement. I have stayed in Gabon ever since.”
On the growth trail
Under the leadership of the PCA, Norman Chng, van Mierlo has also been at the helm of GWI’s steady
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growth trajectory. Today the firm provides four key services – container handling and stuffing services, kiln drying, warehousing, and manufacturing of doors, mouldings, finger-joints and furniture. Construction of the first kiln dry rooms began in 2013, with 20 having been completed by the following year, each with a capacity of 100 cubic metres. The rooms are fully powered
by biofuel, helping GWI to minimise its fossil fuel emissions impact. “In 2015 the installation of a furniture and door factory was completed and is producing doors as well as school benches,” van Mierlo adds. “In 2018, 10 more kiln dry rooms were successfully built, each again with a capacity of 100 cubic metres, bringing the total capacity to 3,000 cubic metres.
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Re-imagining global agriculture
We are a leading agri-business supplying food, ingredients and raw materials to over 22,000 customers. Established in 1989, and now listed on the Singapore Exchange, our team of 72,000 full-time, seasonal, and contract employees have built a global leadership position in many of our businesses such as Cocoa, Coffee, Cotton, Edible Nuts and Spices. We also provide extensive support services from product development to risk management and agri-logistics. In Africa only, through our Packaged Foods Business, we market our own brands directly to consumers.
We are farmers In orchards, plantations and farms, we grow an array of crops, such as almonds, coffee and rubber, so we have an acute understanding of the pressures facing farmers.
Our scale and insight means we share learnings from one crop to another, driving efficiencies for Olam and customers. Coupled with investments in processing, we have clear line of sight across these supply chains. We are also firm believers in the ability of large-scale and small-scale farmers to work hand in hand, increasing volumes and stimulating opportunity around our operations through smallholder ‘outgrower’ programmes.
We are suppliers We connect customers to farmers. Our sourcing and buying network extends to around 4.7 million farmers, either directly or through intermediaries. While we source from thousands of large-scale farmers, the vast majority are smallholders in emerging markets so our teams are based on the ground, all year round, in as many production areas as
possible. This means we can help to improve yields, quality and environmental practices. Our digital team is also helping us to overcome physical limitations and reach farmers directly with advice and payments, even in the remotest of regions with limited infrastructure.
We are processors With over 200 processing facilities across the world, we transform raw materials into bespoke ingredients, textiles, manufacturing blocks and even furniture. Safety, quality, efficiency and environment are cornerstones throughout the process. We have invested in facilities both close to production and close to customer markets, facilitating trade, creating employment and reducing our carbon footprint.
We are experts Our teams include agronomists, analysts, coffee cuppers, ginners, quality assurers, traders and many more besides. We pride ourselves on finding solutions that work for everyone involved. But as there’s always room for improvement, our experts strive to innovate throughout the supply chain.
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“We also have a sawmill under construction, all in the GSEZ which is 27 kilometres from Libreville along National Road 1.” This busy activity is showing no signs of letting up, van Mierlo going on to explain what lies ahead for the next year in terms of expansion. Indeed, GWI will install a second sawmill with a capacity of 2,000 cubic metres a month, alongside a peeling veneer mill all inside the
GABON’S FOREST RICHES With 85 percent of Gabon being covered by forest, it is no surprise that the country is home to an enormous variety of wood species that can cater to a great many needs of industries around the world. It is estimated that more than 400 species of trees reside here, around 100 being suitable for industrial use. Around two thirds of Gabon’s forest is classified as primary forest, the most biodiverse and carbon-dense form to be found, with 2.7 billion tonnes of carbon living in its biomass. GWI alone exports dozens of wood varieties, including Keva, Beli, Ebiara, Ovangkol, Dibetou, Padouk, Doussie, Bilinga, Azobe, Acajou, Bosse, Dabema, Iroko, Izombe, Movingui, Niangon, Okoume,Omvong, Ekoune, Okan, Pachyloba, Paorosa, Sapelli, Sipo, Tali, Tiama, Wenge, Gheombi, Andoung and others. The Company’s major markets include South Africa, Europe, the Middle East and China.
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A sustainable core
Passing on knowledge to local workers is not the only way GWI is acting responsibly. Environmental sustainability is also a major priority, and the fact that all logging operations are carried out by GWI employees means the Company has total control over its working standards. All logging machines, vehicles and road maintenance machines are also owned and operated by GWI. The forest is managed under a Sustainable Forest Management Convention (CFAD), something which 400,000-hectare site in GSEZ. This is has been obtained after three years of preparation through a provisional being conducted in partnership with a Chinese firm, and will signal the forest management plan. GWI is also completion of an investment plan seeking further certification in the form of Forest Stewardship Council created in 2014. and Pan African Forestry Certification By the time the work is finished, labels. GWI will be operating with a monthly output capacity of around 3,000 cubic “Beyond this, we are operating metres of sawn timber, which will pass fully on bioenergy with waste wood fuelling our boilers,” says van Mierlo. through the kilns on site. “The waste wood comes from not only It is this downstream connection our own operations, but from other to the kiln operation which, for van Mierlo, stands the firm apart from its sawmills that we collect from around competitors. the Gabon Special Economic Zone.” By continuing to commercialise “There are not many, perhaps one or two more companies, operating in the Gabon’s most abundant resource in a socially and environmentally same way,” he says. “Further, we are a Malaysian company with Malaysian responsible way, GWI looks set to play expats, highly schooled technicians its part in the country’s continued growth path and diversification away who are teaching our Gabonese from an oil economy. employees.”
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stablished in 1989, Olam Group has risen to become one of the world’s leading agri-businesses, supplying food, ingredients and raw materials to more than 22,000 business customers around the world.
private sector employer in the country, generating major employment opportunities throughout rural communities that substantially aid economic development.
Globally, the Company employs over 72,000 people on both full-time and seasonal contracts, a network that has helped it to establish unrivalled positions in a multitude of different segments, from cocoa to cotton to coffee.
Olam Palm Gabon Ownership: Olam 60 percent, Republic of Gabon 40 percent We have planted 64,000 hectares of oil palm and we are protecting 72,000 hectares of High Conservation Value forest and other areas such as buffer zones. Two plantation lots have already been RSPO certified and we are on track for 100 percent certification by 2021. We have three processing facilities.
This presence spans a number of continents, evident in its extensive operations in West and Central Africa that have been ongoing since 1999.
Gabonese operations Providing 15,000 jobs across the region, today the firm relies on a number of strategic partnerships with the Gabonese Republic. These span the markets of palm oil, rubber, fertiliser and port logistics, with Olam Group playing a fundamental role in the development and maintenance of a key Gabonese special economic zone (SEZ). “We chose to invest in Gabon due to its political stability, logistical potential, its favourable agri-climate, thriving economy and the synergy of Olam’s objectives with those of the Republic’s ‘Emerging Gabon’ strategy, in particular their commitment to sustainable development,” Olam Group states on its website. “In turn, the Republic of Gabon was keen to develop an agricultural economy of which it has very little (around 60 percent of food is imported), diversify from fossil fuel exports, create employment and reduce poverty – approximately 33 percent of people live at or below the poverty line.” Providing jobs to 9,000 Gabonese people, Olam Group now stands as Gabon’s largest
Operations overview
Olam Rubber Gabon Ownership: Olam 60 percent, Republic of Gabon 40 percent We have planted 11,000 hectares of rubber trees and are protecting around 25,000 hectares of high conservation value areas. We have one processing facility. Gabon Special Economic Zone Ownership: Olam 40.5 percent, Republic of Gabon 38.5 percent, AFC 21 percent 1,126-hectare multi-product Nkok SEZ with over 80 investors from 18 different nationalities and 15 producing industries. Gabon SEZ has also undertaken ports and infrastructure projects. Gabon Fertiliser Company Ownership: Olam 80 percent, Republic of Gabon 20 percent A urea-ammonia fertiliser plant of 1.3 million tonnes per annum capacity.
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Bois et Scierie du Gabon (BSG) Boite Postale 8289 Libreville Gabon Tel: +241 01 721770 enquiry@bsgabon.com www.bsgabon.com
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