12th February 2016
Gabon recently hit the headlines, with predictions the country’s oil production would fall by 8%, with blame attributed to workers strikes and ageing oil fields. An oil workers strikes took place spring 2015, and were accompanied by demonstrations across the country – during which the Benin Embassy in Libreville was burnt down.
Although currently a low threat region, the country poses localised risks for any visitor, notably crime and poor road conditions, with incidents including car-jackings in Libreville and armed attacks and robbery in Gabonese cities. With such local risks facing international workers, Solace Global (the security division of Intrinsic) are providing risk management and security services to our clients operating across Gabon, specifically journey management and contingency assistance to our clients involved in exploration and production in the country and surrounding coast.
Figure 1 – Gulf of Guinea Piracy Related Incidents (12 months)
Gabon’s coastal waters are at risk from Gulf of Guinea based pirate groups, who have been known to operate as far down the West African coast as Angola – Figures 1 depicts piracy related events over a recent 12 month period (Aug 2014 – Aug 2015).
The Intrinsic intelligence team monitor incidents relating to Piracy but also Civil Unrest, Crime, Environment, Health, Political, Terrorism and Travel Information – providing a complete overview and picture of threats in any given area of operation. Information is filtered from open and closed sources including Government departments, news outlets, social media and ground truth.
The intelligence and information is utilised by Intrinsic’s online Travel Risk Management Platform, used by our operators and clients in Gabon and across the globe. For more information regarding Intrinsic Security and Medical Assistance contact +44(0)1243 621 0007 info@intrinsicassistance.com