div.a { COULD GABON BE ON THE FOREFRONT OF AFRICA'S NEXT BIG OIL BOOM?: center; }

Sitting on the terrace of his presidential palace overseeing Libreville’s beachfront avenue, Ali Bongo contemplates the growth of Gabon’s capital. “Everything you see today wasn’t here 10 years ago,” says Gabon’s 59-year-old president, sporting a perfectly tailored camel suit and a gleaming Rolex watch.

Libreville’s expansion has been fueled by Gabon’s decade-long boom in oil production. But with oil prices plummeting and reserves declining, the central African country is scrambling to find a less volatile source of income. Bongo’s solution? Palm oil. Gabon’s government has partnered with agricultural giant Olam to set up the largest palm oil plantation in Africa — over 82,000 hectares. The move promises to generate thousands of jobs, millions in revenue — and some serious controversy.

Nobody doubts the country needs to diversify its economy. Despite being a middle-income nation with fewer than 2 million citizens, poverty remains high and youth unemployment is at 36 percent. Employment is the only way to bring the country’s people out of poverty, says Bongo, who is keen to deliver results after his 2016 re-election was marred by accusations of fraud and violent street protests. But palm oil comes with its own set of ghosts. After decades of mass production in Malaysia and Indonesia, the industry has become synonymous with deforestation, labor exploitation and chimpanzee murder. Showing Gabon can do better will be no easy feat.