Gabon: discovering the new sheep sellers

#Gabon : This week, the sheepfolds of Libreville were open to the sale of live animals. Muslims come here to buy the sheep they sacrifice for Eid el-Kébir this Saturday, July 9 throughout the territory.

It is an open secret to assert that this centuries-old and very lucrative business is run by communities of Fulani and Hausa herders, whose migration leaves from Chad via Cameroon bordering Gabon. But gradually, this market is becoming more democratic with new players with different profiles, encountered in the field.

On this area of ​​the Akébé bridge in the 3rd arrondissement of the Gabonese capital, brown jacket, a round beard with a few helpers by his side, Mapangou Ngowet begins his day as a sheep seller. The young Gabonese first got into it out of pure curiosity, before turning it into a business opportunity. “It was during a meeting with papa Mamadou who attracted me to Islam, and at the same time showed me the work of a shepherd. We do like the others. We follow the rhythm, one step following another. Financially, let’s say it’s fine,” he says.

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Gabon lacks breeders, and it imports more than half of its sheep each year for Tabaski (Aid el-Kébir), particularly from neighboring Cameroon. The trade is so lucrative that it attracts more and more people. Of Moroccan origin, Abdellah Mesroui gives up intercity transport during the pre-feast period to buy and sell sheep.

In his small plot surrounded by fences, dozens of animals run behind each other. They benefit from bi-monthly veterinary support, eat only the healthiest foods, and are pampered 24 hours a day by dedicated staff. “We import sheep from Cameroon. We’re getting ready for the party. But my idea is to breed at the level of Gabon. I know almost all of Gabon’s territory,” he explains.

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Amadou Bello, the dean of the market, is full of praise for Abdallah Mesroui, who puts his expertise as a descendant of breeders at the service of sheep sellers at the Akébé bridge site in Libreville. “It’s my friend. We have been together for a long time. You know that in Morocco, they are ahead of us in breeding. So he teaches us a lot regarding breeding”, testifies the coordinator of the sheep market in Libreville.

In an inflationary context that spares no sector, the selling price of sheep varies between 150,000 and 300,000 CFA francs per head. The direct consequence of this Tabaski at gold prices is that customers do not jostle in the commercial spaces of Libreville.