In 2010, the Gabonese government issued a ban on logs exports. Ten years later, Gabon becomes a demonstration model for the subregion in terms of its industrialization of timber sector.

From January 1, 2022, all member states of the Central African Economic and Monetary Community (CEMAC), namely Cameroon, Central African Republic, Republic of the Congo, Gabon, Equatorial Guinea and Chad, will ban log exports.

At the end of the Conference of theCouncil of Ministers of Central African in charge of Forestry, Industry and Environment,

Cameroon’s Minister of Forestry and Wildlife, Jules Doret Ndongo, announced this decision on September 18, 2020.

To support the measure, the ministries decided that special economic zones will be created for primary, secondary, and tertiary wood processing industries,the same as Nkok special economic zone in Gabon.The ministers also validated the decision to create a Regional Committee for the Sustainable Industrialization of the Timber Sector in the Congo Basin, as well as the regulation on the development of forest plantations.

Also, they validated the decision to designate the International School of Agriculture and Woodwork (Esiamb) as a sub-regional university institution dedicated to vocational woodworking training.

At the end of the videoconference, they recommended that the Council of Ministers of the Central African Economic Union should adopt these decisions to make them community decisions.

Ultimately, the sub-region will achieve harmonized forest taxation.To this end, the ministers recommended that the CEMAC (Cameroon, Central African Republic, Republic of the Congo, Gabon, Equatorial Guinea, and Chad) should develop guidelines on forest taxation, and incorporate into member countries national legislations.