Microdose writes
Gabon wants its cut of the ibogaine boom
On October 1, Mongabay’s Molly Helfend reported from Gabon about actions the country is taking to protect its iboga supply and to claim a financial stake in the growing international ibogaine market. The root bark of the iboga shrub, which grows natively in Gabon and throughout West-Central Africa, has been used for healing and ceremonial traditions by Bwiti practitioners for centuries.
According to Georges Gassita, a Gabonese state civil servant and environment law expert, the country anticipates a spike in international demand since President Trump signed an executive order in April to advance psychedelic medicine.
“The price of iboga seedlings in Gabon has risen sharply, from roughly $4 to $17 per unit, depending on the product and market,” Gassita said in an op-ed. “Gabon is working urgently to clarify the value of these resources and regulate the trade efficiently in a way that serves both the people who provide this medicine and the people who seek it.”
In response, Gabon’s Council of Ministers adopted a draft decree last month to ban exports of iboga. In May, President Brice Oligui Nguema signed a presidential decree to regulate access and assert sovereignty over the iboga plant, its derivatives, and traditional knowledge.
Mongabay reported that the Gabonese government also seeks royalties beyond iboga plant sales, including a percentage of sales from international patents, synthetic, lab-made ibogaine, and clinic treatments. The money would be pooled into a national fund and distributed to the state and communities, which could help support a burgeoning Gabonese ibogaine industry.
Maître Moubeyi Bouale, who preserves Bwiti traditions as director of Association Nationale Maghanga Ma Nzambé, told Mongabay that “the revenues from the exploitation of iboga must be redistributed. That is all we are asking.”
