Gabon - Media

The Ministry of Information, Posts, and Telecommunications provides domestic services for Gabon and participates in international services. There are direct radiotelephone communications with Paris and other overseas points. In 2000 there were 39,000 mainline telephones and 120,000 cellular phones in use.

Radio-Diffusion Télévision Gabonaise (RTG), which is owned and operated by the government, broadcasts in French and indigenous languages. Color television broadcasts have been introduced in major cities. In 1981, a commercial radio station, Africa No. 1, began operations. The most powerful radio station on the continent, it has participation from the French and Gabonese governments and private European media. In 2001 there were 6 AM and 7 FM radio stations, as well as 3 television stations. In 2000, there were 501 radios and 326 television sets for every 1,000 people.

The national press service is the Gabonese Press Agency, which publishes a daily paper, Gabon-Matin (circulation 18,000 as of 2002). L'Union in Libreville, the government-controlled daily newspaper, had an average daily circulation of 40,000 in 2002. The weekly Gabon d'Aujourdhui, is published by the Ministry of Communications. There are about 10 privately owned periodicals which are either independent or affiliated with political parties. These publish in small numbers and are often delayed by financial constraints.

The constitution of Gabon provides for free speech and a free press, and the government is said to support these rights. Several periodicals actively criticize the government and foreign publications are widely available.