MOANDA SCHOOL OF MINING AND METALLURGY As the first institution of its kind in the subregion, the school will also enable Gabon to promote exchanges with the Central African subregion and beyond
Gabon President Ali Bongo Ondimba, with São Tomé and Príncipe Prime Minister Patrice Trovoada, recently inaugurated the Moanda School of Mining and Metallurgy, which is also known as E3M, in the Haut-Ogooué province of Gabon.
“This school responds to the need for greater diversification in our economy. “To achieve this goal, we need establishments that can provide training for our engineers and senior technicians,” said Ondimba at the opening.
He added that the institute would help boost the performance of the Moanda Metallurgical Complex (CMM) as it would assist in improving production volumes of manganese and iron at the CMM.
As the first institution of its kind in the subregion, the school will also enable Gabon to promote exchanges with the Central African subregion and beyond.
Ondimba highlighted that the school would be accessible to students across the continent who wished to develop their skills in the field of mining and metallurgy.
The school is the result of a public–private partnership between the Gabonese government, French mining company Eramet’s Gabon-based subsidiary, Compagnie Minière de l’Ogooué, or Comilog, and the University of Nancy, in France.
Occupying a 40 ha site, the school consists of “futuristic-looking” administrative and teaching buildings, a dormitory, a library, a language laboratory, an information technology room and a 150-seat lecture hall, in addition to two technical halls, a canteen and a sports facilities.
Ondimba noted that, over time, the E3M school would enable the training of many engineers from Gabon and from the rest of the continent to meet the growing needs of Africa’s mining industry.
He further explained that the construction of the E3M school was part of a general plan to industrialise different strands of Gabon’s economy, including mining, petroleum and forestry.
These respective sectors are supported in each case by a specialised school dedicated to training future engineers, namely the Port-Gentil Petroleum and Gas Institute, and the Wood Industry School – which is currently under construction – both being located in western Gabon.