Islam in Gabon

Islam first arrived in Gabon due to the presence of Senegalese troops sent in by the French and of Hausa merchants during the 19th and 20th centuries.

Gabon was also the site where two prominent Muslims, Amadou Bamba and Samori Touré, were exiled to by the French colonial government.

The government television stations accorded free transmission time to the Catholic Church, some Protestant congregations, and Islamic mosques.

Some Protestant denominations alleged that the government television station does not accord free airtime to minority religious groups.

In 2004 a first national conference for the Muslims of Gabon was held in the capital city of the country, Libreville, on the theme ‘United for the sake of a flourishing and tolerant Islam’.