Gabon suspends digital driving licence enrolment with nearly 7,000 permits awaiting collection

16:45

Gabon has temporarily halted enrolment for its digital driving licence, leaving thousands of applicants waiting for information about when the programme will resume.

The Ministry of Transport, Merchant Marine and Logistics announced the suspension on Monday, September 21, six months after the digital permit system was introduced. The government said the pause was intended to allow authorities to conduct an overall assessment of the programme and review its implementation.

No date has been announced for the resumption of enrolment, however, leaving applicants uncertain about the next steps.

A suspension without a restart date

The decision has created fresh uncertainty for people who had already experienced difficulties accessing the new system.

The digital driving licence was introduced as part of a broader effort to modernise the management of transport documents and strengthen their security. Yet the implementation has been marked by long queues, high demand and operational difficulties reported by users.

The absence of a timetable for restarting enrolment has added another layer of uncertainty for applicants who have already spent months trying to complete the process.

Nearly 7,000 completed permits remain uncollected

One of the most striking figures disclosed by the ministry concerns permits that have already been produced.

A total of 6,993 digital driving licences have reportedly been printed and are available at the National Centre for the Production and Delivery of Transport Documents. Their holders, however, have not yet collected them.

The situation raises practical questions about the final stage of the process. Authorities have not publicly established whether the uncollected documents are primarily the result of communication problems, notification failures or difficulties experienced by applicants during the rollout.

For citizens still waiting for their documents, the issue is not simply administrative. A driving licence can be essential for employment, professional mobility and everyday transportation.

Applicants describe a difficult rollout

Some users say they encountered obstacles from the beginning of the digitalisation process.

Journalist Joseph Madimba said he attempted to complete the new procedure twice but was unable to do so because of the heavy turnout during the initial phase. When he returned to the centre more recently, he discovered that enrolment had been suspended.

His experience illustrates the uncertainty facing applicants who had expected the programme to remain operational while they completed the required formalities.

Supporters see an opportunity to fix the system

The suspension has not been viewed exclusively as a setback. Some observers believe the pause could give authorities an opportunity to address problems before reopening the programme.

Influencer Serge Alioune argued that the level of mobilisation surrounding the launch pointed to organisational difficulties and suggested that a temporary retreat could allow the administration to improve the system.

Transport operator Tanguy Allogho similarly described the suspension as preferable to allowing administrative problems to continue. He referred to reports of identical licence numbers being assigned to different users, an issue that, if confirmed, could raise concerns about document security and administrative reliability.

Such problems would be particularly significant for a reform designed in part to make driving licences more secure and easier to verify.

Calls to extend digitalisation to the diaspora

The debate is also extending beyond Gabon's borders.

Laurent Monty, a Gabonese citizen living in Canada and visiting Libreville, said digital driving licences could offer important advantages for citizens abroad as well. He called for the system eventually to be made available to the Gabonese diaspora.

The proposal reflects a broader expectation that public services should become more accessible through digital systems. However, the immediate challenge remains the stabilisation of the programme within Gabon itself.

Six months on, questions remain

The first six months of the digital driving licence programme have produced a mixed picture.

The reform has been presented as an important step toward modernising transport administration and improving the security of driving documents. At the same time, users have reported difficulties ranging from congestion and delays to uncertainty over procedures.

The ministry's decision to suspend new enrolment provides an opportunity to assess those problems, but the lack of a reopening date leaves applicants without a clear timetable.

Authorities will now face several practical questions: when will enrolment resume, what corrective measures will be introduced, and how will the 6,993 completed licences awaiting collection be delivered to their holders?

The answers will be important not only for the immediate backlog but also for public confidence in the digitalisation programme.

For Gabon, the challenge is therefore no longer simply to introduce a digital driving licence. It is to ensure that the system operates reliably, communicates clearly with users and delivers the administrative security promised by the reform.