Libreville — July 11, 2026 — The debate surrounding Africa’s natural resource transformation is no longer confined to boardrooms or international summits. It is unfolding in university lecture halls and vocational training centers, where the next generation of Gabonese professionals is being shaped.

The third edition of the Yam’NA program, jointly launched by Eramet Comilog and SETRAG, embodies this shift. Beyond the announcement of fifty new scholarships for Gabonese high school graduates lies a broader vision: equipping the workforce that will drive the country’s industrial transformation in the coming decades.

Officially unveiled in Libreville on July 10, this latest iteration builds on the initiative’s 2024 origins under Eramet Comilog’s Beyond program and its Act for Positive Mining social responsibility strategy. To date, nearly fifty Gabonese students have benefited from scholarships to pursue higher education domestically.

The inclusion of SETRAG as a partner marks a pivotal expansion, broadening the program’s national scope by aligning mining and rail infrastructure—Gabon’s most critical transport artery—around a shared goal: investing in Gabonese human capital.

Building skills for tomorrow’s industries

For decades, African extractive economies have exported raw materials while importing the technical expertise needed for their refinement. Gabon is now charting a different course.

The fifty new scholarships for the 2026-2027 academic year will target sectors identified as vital to the nation’s future. Priority fields include metallurgy, steel production, industrial chemistry, agribusiness, agroforestry, and green economy professions. This strategic pivot is no coincidence—it aligns with national ambitions to deepen local resource transformation, boost value addition, and gradually reduce reliance on imported expertise.

The stakes extend far beyond graduate employment. The program aims to cultivate engineers, technicians, metallurgists, environmental specialists, industrial process experts, and mid-level managers who will spearhead tomorrow’s manganese, iron, timber, and agricultural processing projects.

In a global landscape defined by energy transitions and competition for critical minerals, resource-rich nations face a new equation: possessing raw materials is no longer sufficient. The real advantage lies in having the skills to locally transform them and capture their economic value.

Investing in economic sovereignty

The Yam’NA program targets Gabonese youth under 25 who have passed their baccalaureate exams and aspire to pursue higher education in technical, industrial, or environmental fields within Gabon. Applications are open from July 8 to 28, 2026.

While financial support is a cornerstone of the initiative, the program also seeks to bridge the gap between academic curricula and the evolving demands of the real economy. This disconnect remains a critical challenge across African economies: companies struggle to fill specialized roles, while graduates face hurdles in saturated or misaligned sectors.

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 through subsidiaries Comilog and SETRAG—the French group Eramet stands as a key economic player in Gabon and the subregion.

SETRAG, meanwhile, operates the 648-kilometer Transgabonais railway, connecting inland mining zones to the Owendo port and annually transporting nine million tons of goods and hundreds of thousands of passengers.

The future of development is written in skills

Africa is entering a new phase of economic growth where the central question is no longer just infrastructure or capital, but the availability of skilled talent to fuel industrial change. In this global race, nations that succeed will likely be those transforming their youth into engines of value creation.

The Yam’NA program embodies this long-term vision. By steering students toward local transformation sectors and green economy roles, Gabon is not just addressing today’s needs—it is preparing for tomorrow’s challenges.

The objective is clear: nurture a generation capable not only of extracting the country’s resources but of refining, valorizing, and leveraging them as pillars of sustainable economic sovereignty. Application details and eligibility criteria are available on the Yam’NA program’s dedicated platform.