Libreville, Saturday, July 11, 2026 – The debate over Africa’s local resource transformation is no longer confined to boardrooms, international summits, or ministerial offices. Today, it unfolds in university lecture halls, vocational training centers, and the academic paths of a new generation.

In Gabon, the third edition of the Yam’NA program, jointly launched by Eramet Comilog and SETRAG, embodies this shift. Behind the announcement of fifty new scholarships for Gabonese high school graduates lies a far-reaching ambition: cultivating the expertise needed to propel the country’s industrial transformation over the coming decades.

Officially inaugurated on July 10 in Libreville, this latest edition represents a significant evolution of the initiative first introduced in 2024 by Eramet Comilog under the group’s Beyond program and its corporate social responsibility strategy, Act for Positive Mining. Since its inception, nearly fifty Gabonese students have already received support to pursue higher education locally.

The inclusion of SETRAG as a partner in this third edition marks a new phase, amplifying the program’s national scope. By uniting the mining sector with the country’s most critical railway infrastructure, the initiative consolidates its mission: investing in Gabon’s human capital.

Equipping Gabon with tomorrow’s industries

For decades, African extractive economies have primarily exported raw materials while relying on imported technical expertise for their processing. Gabon is now determined to reverse this pattern.

The fifty new scholarships for the 2026-2027 academic year will target sectors identified as pivotal to the nation’s future. Priority fields include metallurgy, steel production, industrial chemistry, agribusiness, agroforestry, and professions linked to the green economy.

This strategic pivot is deliberate. It aligns with national goals to bolster local resource transformation, enhance value addition within the country’s borders, and gradually diminish dependence on foreign expertise.

The stakes extend beyond mere employment prospects. The program aims to nurture engineers, technicians, metallurgists, environmental specialists, industrial process experts, and mid-level managers who will drive tomorrow’s projects in manganese, iron, timber, and Gabonese agricultural products.

In a global landscape shaped by the energy transition and the scramble for strategic minerals, producing nations face a new challenge: raw materials alone are no longer sufficient. To unlock economic value, countries must cultivate local talent capable of transforming these resources efficiently.

A commitment to economic sovereignty

The Yam’NA program is open to Gabonese youth under 25 who have passed their baccalaureate exams in the first sitting and wish to pursue higher education domestically in technical, industrial, or environmental disciplines. Applications are open from July 8 to 28, 2026.

Beyond financial support, the program seeks to bridge the gap between academic training and the real-world demands of Gabon’s economy. This alignment is a pressing challenge across many African economies, where businesses struggle to find specialized talent while graduates face hurdles in securing roles in oversaturated fields disconnected from emerging industrial needs.

The partnership between Eramet Comilog and SETRAG offers a tangible solution to this structural issue. As Gabon’s largest private employer, with nearly 3,500 direct jobs—many within its subsidiaries Comilog and the railway operator SETRAG—Eramet remains a cornerstone of the Gabonese and subregional economy.

SETRAG, meanwhile, operates the 648-kilometer Transgabonais railway, linking inland mining zones to the Owendo port. Annually, it transports nearly nine million tons of goods and hundreds of thousands of passengers, making it a vital artery for the nation’s trade.

The battle for development is won through skills

Africa is entering a new phase of economic development where the central question is no longer just about infrastructure or investment—it’s about the skills available to support industrial change. In this global competition, the countries that succeed will likely be those that can transform their youth into the primary engine of value creation.

The Yam’NA program is built for the long term. By steering students toward local transformation industries and green economy professions, Gabon is not merely responding to today’s needs—it’s anticipating tomorrow’s demands.

The goal is unambiguous: to cultivate a generation not only capable of extracting the country’s resources but also of refining, enhancing, and leveraging them to build sustainable economic sovereignty. Application details and eligibility criteria are available on the dedicated Yam’NA program platform.