Mont-Bouët, the beating heart of Libreville’s informal economy, has become a stage for a persistent scourge that torments hundreds of traders. Gabon’s largest marketplace is once again at the center of a heated debate over systematic extortion. Evidence gathered from traders reveals a well-oiled racketeering system that now stands as the foremost challenge for Mayor Eugène Mba.

Behind the usual bustle of stalls and the cries of vendors, a much darker reality hides. Convened by the Syndicat des débrouillards du Gabon (SDG) and the NGO Solidarité pour le développement du Gabon (ONG-SDG), many traders have broken their silence. They denounce what they call a genuine “organized racket” involving certain municipal agents and law enforcement officers.

Traders report that the amounts demanded far exceed official taxes. “Municipal agents collect 2,000 FCFA per stall instead of the legally set 500 FCFA,” one vendor fumes. Worse, corresponding receipts are rarely issued, hiding a large-scale fraud that suffocates small budgets.

A persistent scourge that resists eradication

Sadly, this phenomenon is nothing new. It has persisted through successive municipal administrations, protected by entrenched influence networks and a glaring lack of traceability for cash payments. For many, racketeering has become a chronic ill that further erodes profits already battered by the general decline in purchasing power. Given the insufficient control mechanisms at city hall, the task facing the new municipal team led by Eugène Mba appears Herculean.

Digitalisation: A path forward?

Faced with what some already call a “mission impossible,” solution paths are emerging to clean up the management of Libreville’s markets. According to several economic observers, the answer lies mainly in transparency and digitalisation of payments. Eliminating cash handling by intermediaries and promoting direct digital transactions to municipal coffers would cut the ground from under dishonest agents. For Eugène Mba, the stakes go beyond simple urban management: it is about restoring trust between the city administration and local economic operators, pillars of the capital’s subsistence economy.