Libreville, Saturday, July 11, 2026 — The debate surrounding Africa’s local resource transformation is no longer confined to boardrooms or international summits. Today, it resonates through university lecture halls, vocational training centers, and the aspirations of young minds across the continent.
In Gabon, the third edition of the Yam’NA program—jointly launched by Eramet Comilog and SETRAG—embodies this shift. Beyond the announcement of 50 new scholarships for Gabonese high school graduates lies a far-reaching strategy: equipping the next generation with the skills needed to power the country’s industrial transformation in the coming decades.
Officially inaugurated on July 10 in Libreville, this latest edition marks a significant evolution since the program’s 2024 inception under Eramet Comilog’s Beyond initiative and its Act for Positive Mining corporate responsibility framework. To date, nearly 50 Gabonese students have already benefited from support to pursue higher education within the country.
The inclusion of SETRAG as a partner in this third edition expands the program’s national scope, uniting two critical sectors—mining and rail infrastructure—around a shared goal: investing in Gabon’s human capital.
Shaping careers that don’t yet exist
For decades, African extractive economies have exported raw materials while relying on imported technical expertise for processing. Gabon is now determined to reverse this trend.
The 50 scholarships for the 2026-2027 academic year will target fields identified as vital for the nation’s future. Priorities include metallurgy, steel production, industrial chemistry, agro-processing, agroforestry, and green economy professions. This strategic pivot aligns with national ambitions to bolster local resource transformation, enhance value addition, and gradually reduce reliance on foreign expertise.
The stakes extend beyond individual career prospects. The program aims to cultivate engineers, technicians, metallurgists, environmental specialists, industrial process experts, and mid-level managers who will drive tomorrow’s projects—transforming Gabon’s manganese, iron, timber, and agricultural products into economic assets.
In a global landscape defined by energy transitions and competition for strategic minerals, mere possession of resources is no longer sufficient. Nations must also cultivate the expertise to transform these resources locally and capture their economic value.
Building economic sovereignty through education
The Yam’NA program targets Gabonese youth under 25 who have passed their baccalaureate exams and wish to pursue higher education in technical, industrial, or environmental fields within Gabon. Applications for the 2026 cohort are open from July 8 to July 28.
While financial support is a cornerstone of the initiative, its broader objective is to bridge the gap between academic training and real-world industrial needs. This challenge plagues many African economies: companies struggle to fill specialized roles, while graduates face barriers entering oversaturated or misaligned sectors.
The partnership between Eramet Comilog and SETRAG offers a structural solution to these systemic issues. As Gabon’s largest private employer—with nearly 3,500 direct jobs across its Comilog and SETRAG subsidiaries—Eramet stands as a cornerstone of the national and sub-regional economy. SETRAG, meanwhile, operates the 648-kilometer Transgabonais railway, linking 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 economic phase where the focus has shifted from infrastructure to talent. In this global race, success will favor nations that can transform their youth into engines of value creation.
The Yam’NA program is a long-term investment in this vision. By directing students toward local transformation industries and green economy roles, Gabon is not merely responding to today’s needs—it’s preemptively shaping the workforce of tomorrow. The program’s eligibility criteria and application details are available on its dedicated platform.
