Gabonese Republic or Gabon is a French speaking country located along the Atlantic coast of central Africa with an area of about 267,667 km2 and a population of 2,119,036. About 60 % of the population resides in the capital, Libreville, and Port Gentil, the economic capital of the country. This upper middle-income country is heavily reliant on extractive industries, with oil accounting for 80 % of exports and 45 % of GDP and manganese and rubber comprising the country's other major exports. The share of non-extractive sectors such as agribusiness and transport and communication are growing.

Gabon is primarily dependent on fossil fuels and some hydropower as its main sources of energy. With the oil sector vulnerable to shocks, the government introduced the Economic Recovery Plan in 2017-19, with the aim to diversify the economy from its reliance on oil production.

The government has signed an agreement with ENGIE, French multinational electric utility company, to construct eight hybrid solar power plants with a combined capacity of 2.2 MW spread across three provinces in the country. The solar energy generated can be used to power about 100,000 households in eight locations that are currently supplied by oil-fired thermal power stations and provide continued access to energy these areas. Additionally, in 2017, the government announced the installation of 5,000 solar streetlamps throughout the country.