“The European Union is ready to address the concerns expressed in recent months in a constructive and transparent manner,” the EU delegation in Gabon stated in a Facebook post.
In June 2025, President Brice Oligui Nguema announced the start of a “unilateral denunciation procedure” for these agreements, describing the partnership as “deeply unbalanced” and in need of renegotiation.
The EU says it stands ready to negotiate “a new, next-generation Sustainable Fisheries Partnership Agreement, as well as a new mutually beneficial implementation protocol,” advocating a forward-looking approach for “a renewed, balanced and effective framework.”
Originally signed in 2007, the Sustainable Fisheries Partnership Agreement (SFPA) between the European Union and Gabon allows European vessels to fish in Gabonese waters.
“The President of the Republic notably pointed out that the revenues from this agreement neither compensate for the real value of the catches, nor the costs borne by the State for surveillance and control, nor the losses of added value due to the lack of local processing,” the government detailed in a council of ministers report last June that questioned the agreement.
“He also denounced the weakness of investments made by partners in local development, employment or national capacity building, as well as the increased risks of overexploitation of fishery resources in the absence of shared transparency and scientific monitoring mechanisms,” the text continued.
The SFPA was renewed several times, most recently in 2021 for a five-year period, and has “a total estimated value of about 17 billion CFA francs” (approximately 26 million euros), according to the Gabonese Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
