Gabon tops Central African Human Development Index and opens its first sovereign data center

The 2026 Human Development Index report released in Libreville placed Gabon at 108th globally and first in Central Africa, with an HDI of 0.733—an improvement of 46 % since 1990. The report highlighted gains in life expectancy (+5.4 years) and average schooling (+5.2 years) and emphasized youth employment and entrepreneurship as drivers of future growth.

In a separate milestone, President of the transition Brice Clotaire Oligui Nguema inaugurated Gabon's first national sovereign data centre in Nkok, a special economic zone near Libreville. Built by ST Digital, a subsidiary of a Cameroonian group, the facility will host government and private sector data that previously resided abroad, aiming to improve security, continuity and local control while supporting the country's broader digital transformation agenda.