Arms Trade Treaty Push: A Gabonese diplomat at UN arms talks in Geneva urged African states to sign, ratify and fully domesticate the UN Arms Trade Treaty, calling for better coordination and funding to curb illicit small arms flows. Railway Modernisation Finance: Gabon signed a €312m financing deal for Phase III of the Transgabonais railway upgrade, with SETRAG, Proparco and the IFC backing works to boost safety, reliability and capacity. Gabon Debt Pressure: Libreville faces a reported $330m Paramount Group-related claim after rights were acquired by Bosch Capital, with a tight September 3 deadline for settlement. Telecom Oversight: Arcep is stepping up monitoring of telecom service quality after outages, reactivating its 1331 consumer short code to strengthen protection. CEMAC Borrowing: CEMAC governments increased borrowing on the regional debt market in July despite slightly higher costs, with outstanding debt rising to CFA10.56tn and Gabon the biggest borrower. Local Business & Finance: VFD Microfinance Bank appointed ex-Standard Chartered executive Nonso Kenneth Okoye as managing director to drive growth in digital banking. Mining Update: Millennial Potash reported new potash intersections at Banio in Gabon, expanding the known mineral footprint. Payments Rails: PAPSS continues expanding as a real-time cross-border payments network in local currencies, now operating across multiple African markets including Gabon. Energy & LNG: Perenco’s Cap Lopez LNG project moved closer as a sister company converts an LNG carrier into an FSU for Gabon liquefaction operations.