How do people in Gabon pay online?
Gabon is a small market with high values. The BEAC, the central bank of the CEMAC, reports that Gabon accounted for 9.89% of the region’s payment transactions in 2024 but 17.49% of their value, XAF 32,001.18 billion, second to Cameroon. Its 3,921,190 mobile money accounts carried 344.6 million transactions worth XAF 3,762.7 billion, a higher value than in the Congo, which has more than twice as many accounts.
Two wallets serve the market: Airtel Money and Moov Money. Figures from the two operators, reported by Gabonmediatime, show 4.55 million accounts at the end of 2024, of which 1.64 million were active, served by 59,398 points of sale. Payments through the wallets grew 15.6% in 2024. A note from Gabon’s Directorate General of Economy and Fiscal Policy, reported by OSIRIS, puts the total at 4.7 million accounts and 1.7 million active accounts at the end of June 2025. Ecofin notes that Airtel Money Gabon was among the first payment institutions licensed in the CEMAC.
Cards matter more here than in most of the region. Gabon had 339,527 active cards, 329 cash machines and 1,386 card terminals in 2024, and card holders made 562,036 payments at merchants worth XAF 50.0 billion. Only Cameroon recorded more card payments in the CEMAC.
QR payments are starting through public services. The MaDigiPaie programme, run with the BEAC and the regional interbank group GIMAC, lets people pay public bills from a mobile money wallet by scanning the GIMACPAY QR code. In 2024 the busiest cross-border corridor for interoperable mobile money in the CEMAC was between Cameroon and Gabon, with 56.13% of intra-regional transactions.
What rules shape online payments in Gabon?
VAT is 18%, with reduced rates of 10% and 5% for listed products and 0% for exports. A business becomes liable for VAT once its turnover reaches XAF 60 million. A 1% special solidarity contribution, set up on similar principles to VAT, applies to businesses with turnover of at least XAF 30 million.
Transfers out of the region are taxed. A 1.5% tax applies to remote fund transfers made in Gabon to countries outside the Central African Monetary Union, calculated on the amount sent, according to PwC.
Gabon has its own data and e-commerce laws. Act No. 001/2011 of 25 September 2011 on personal data protection, amended by Act No. 025/2023 of 9 July 2023, governs customer data. Law No. 025/2021 of 28 December 2021 regulates electronic transactions in Gabon, and Law No. 027/2023 covers cybersecurity, as listed by DLA Piper.
Regional rules also apply. Under the CEMAC foreign exchange regulation, No. 02/18/CEMAC/UMAC/CM, settlements with other countries go only through credit institutions (Article 30), and imports of goods worth XAF 5 million or more must be domiciled with a bank (Article 63).
How would Omno route payments in Gabon?
A merchant would connect once and set routing rules per method, currency and customer group. In Gabon:
- Airtel Money pay-ins would go to a provider that holds an Airtel Money connection in XAF, with the order pending until the customer approves.
- Moov Money pay-ins can be offered next to Airtel Money in the hosted checkout, routed to a provider that supports Moov Money.
- Card pay-ins can be routed by BIN between providers, with cascading: if a provider is unavailable or rejects the request, the payment moves to the next provider in the rule until one accepts.
- Amount and customer group rules can send higher-value orders, new customers or customers at a given verification level to cards or to the wallet provider the merchant chooses.
Webhooks would carry the final status of each payment, and the routing-decision log would show which provider handled each payment and why.
What should merchants plan for?
Plan for both wallets and cards. Mobile money is the most widely held, but card use is high for the region, so a Gabon checkout needs Airtel Money, Moov Money and a card form.
Plan for VAT once turnover passes XAF 60 million, and for the 1% solidarity contribution from XAF 30 million.
Plan for settlement costs. Transfers to countries outside the monetary union carry a 1.5% tax, and cross-border settlement runs through banks under the CEMAC exchange regulation.