A lower cover price, financial support from personal investment and editorial excellence are part of a strategy to launch a new private bi-monthly newspaper in Gabon.

RAP 21 spoke to Wilfried Okoumba, owner and managing editor of the newly launched Le Crocodile, about his strategy to make it a success in Gabons inhospitable newspaper market.

Le Crocodile, a bimonthly satirical newspaper, appeared for the first time in Gabonese newspaper kiosks on 20 May 2004. According to Okoumba, the aim of the newspaper is to educate and offer responsible criticism, not to transmit a political or ideological message. My desire is to educate and criticize without slander, he says. The cartoons that accompany each article of the 8-page newspaper, as well as the high quality of the paper the bi-monthly is printed on, should also serve to attract new readers.

Okoumba, a customs agent and computer scientist by trade, used his personal income to finance the launch of his newspaper. As such, Le Crocodile is entirely funded by Okoumbas private income stemming from properties he owns in specific, a motel and profits from two houses he rents out. In total, Okoumba invested about one million francs CFA (approximately 1500 Euros) in the launch of the newspaper. Of this, 300 000 francs CFA (450 euros), was spent to print the first 5,000 issues.

Le Crocodile, like most Gabonese newspapers, is printed in Cameroon, where printing costs are an average of three times lower. The printed copies of the newspaper are then sent back to Gabon by airplane, where they are distributed by Sogapresse, a distribution company based in Gabon. Even with the cost of flying the newspapers from Cameroon, printing outside of Gabon remains the cheapest option for independent newspapers. Fortunately, however, there are no customs taxes for newspapers printed in the neighbouring country, although the content of Le Crocodile is regularly subjected to inspection at the border by Gabonese authorities. Sogapresse gets 40 per cent of the sales revenue, which leaves Okoumba with 60 per cent of the papers profits.

The newspaper currently employs two full-time journalists, a cartoonist and a handful of freelance journalists. Okoumba manages sales, financing and publicity himself. A key strategy for Le Crocodile is its lower cover price. Okoumba is undercutting competitors with a cover price of 400 francs CFA (0,61 euros), a price that is lower than the prices set by the Private Press Association of Libreville, who sell most of their newspapers at (500 francs CFA, about 0,76 euros). According to the editor, the cost of Le Crocodile, is however, higher than the pro-governmental daily, LUnion sold at 300 francs CFA (0,45 euros) and the newspaper close to the Gabonese Democratic Party in power, La Relance, sold at 200 francs CFA (0,3 euros). The money derived from newspaper sales are vital to the survival of Le Crocodile, as Okoumba expects little revenue from advertising.

Achille Ngoma, a Gabonese correspondent for the Paris-based media organisation Panos, gives his views why revenue from advertising is so low in Gabon: Most companies hesitate to sponsor private newspapers out of fear of loosing the privileges or strategic position given to them by the government.

As such, the pro-governmental daily and the Multipresse group have the monopoly of the advertisement in Gabon, he continues. According to Ngoma, Le Crocodile has an editorial advantage: It is different from other local newspapers because of the professionalism of its journalists, he says. Okoumba hopes that through street sales and revenue from independent advertisers, his newspaper will become self-sufficient in about three months time. Okoumba is also convinced that demand for his paper, despite the fact he did not conduct any detailed market research before the launch. Ngoma agrees: The Gabonese like these type of publications, he says. The journalist draws a parallal between Le Crocodile and the now defunct newspaper, La Griffe, which, before it was shut down in 2001, was very popular amongst the Gabonese public.

Although launching the newspaper has been a challenge, Okoumba has great visions for Le Crocodile: he wants to transform his paper into a weekly, multiply the pages in colour and add supplements to it.