GIABA calls for re-examining of laws against money laundering, financing terrorism in W/Africa

There is a need to re-examine the anti-money laundering and counter-financing of terrorism (AML/CFT) measures in West African countries to ensure they do not induce superficial compliance by countries, said the director general of the Inter-Governmental Action Group against Money Laundering in West Africa (GIABA), Dr Abdullahi Shehu.

Dr Abdullahi Shehu

Dr Shehu observed that the current AML/CFT framework may force money launderers and extremist groups to make frequent tactical changes and thus produces more grievances or fertile grounds for the recruitment of new set of criminals. 

Most parts of the AML/CFT framework of countries in the sub-region are products of imperfect and incomplete information, hence the need to establish and address the root causes of terrorism to ensure the successes recorded by the AML/CFT framework are enduring, Dr Shehu said while presenting a paper on the challenges of implementing  counter-financing of terrorism regimes in West Africa at the training workshop on AML/CFT for North and West African states organised by the Swiss Confederation and the Federal Republic of Nigeria in collaboration with Giaba held in Abuja, Nigeria, from December 11 to 13, 2012.  

“The benefits of implementing effective AML/CFT regimes are enormous,” the Giaba DG said. “Giaba will continue to support its members to implement effective AML/CFT measures that facilitate optimal deployment of resources and proper sequencing of intervention activities.”

For him, the adoption of international AML/CFT standards is not the magic wand towards eradicating money laundering and financing terrorism, but they are milestones towards building enabling framework that would provide the roadmap for achieving the ultimate goal of a crime-free society.

He said Giaba, an arm of ECOWAS established to fight money laundering and terrorist financing in West Africa, is mandated to develop strategies and mechanisms for the prevention and control of the twin crimes in the sub-region.

Low capacity hinders implementation of FATF Recommendations

All the West African countries which constitute GIABA Member States are facing daunting challenges of low technical know-how and the financial resources to implement the global standards set by the Financial Action Task Force (FATF), global pacesetters in the fight against money laundering and terrorism financing. 

Gambia internet speed to be 50 times faster as ACE goes live

Internet speed in The Gambia and more than 20 countries in Africa and Europe is projected to increase more than 50 times, with the cost expected to reduce.  And also the cost of telephone calls is also projected to significantly reduce as the Africa Coast to Europe (ACE) submarine cable goes live on 15^th December 2012.

Gambia ACE stakeholders, who briefed journalists on the new development on Thursday at the GRTS building on MDI Road, said the ACE submarine cable will allow cheap, fast and reliable international calls, access to the internet at unprecedented and revolutionary speeds, all at a lesser cost. 

This access to huge bandwidth at a cheaper rate that ACE is expected to bring to The Gambia will empower every sector of the country including, but not limited to, telecommunications, banking, education, health, and agriculture.

“The speed of internet is going to be like a superhighway.  It’s going to be 100 times faster when the ACE reaches its capacity, although the initial speed is going to be 50 to 60 times faster than the current speed.  It’s going to be ‘Fat fat’; as you click, it responses,” said Jay Karthik, Chief Technician of QCell, which is part of the Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV), a joint venture of public-private sector members established by the government for the purpose of Gambia’s participation in the ACE project. 

The conference was meant to announce to Gambians the launching of ACE in The Gambia on 19 December 2012 and the benefits of the submarine cable to almost all the sectors of the economy.

The ACE submarine cable has a design capacity of 5.12 Tbps and is supported by the new 40 Gbps wavelength division multiplexing (WDM) technology.

Mr Karthik again: “If I am to translate this to the understanding of a layman, I will give this analogy:  It’s like if you have one lane for a major highway with too many vehicles then obviously there will be traffic jam but if you have eight lanes at the same place then the vehicles will be running at a faster rate.  With the ACE submarine cable, we are going to have a superhighway with a broadband speed.”

Hussein Diab, Information Systems director at Africell, a member of the SPV, explained that currently The Gambia is buying its bandwidth from Sonatel in Senegal, which is buying through a middleman.  “So the prices of internet and calls are a little bit high but with the ACE submarine cable, The Gambia will not be going to buy from any middleman,” he said.

“We used to buy from Sonatel so by the time we sell it to the final consumers, the prices are a little bit high.  But with ACE, there will not be issue of buying from a third party, so the prices will come down and the speed will faster.”

Finance Minister apologises to lawmakers for understating national budget

Hon. Abdou Kolley

Hon. Abdou Kolley, Minister of Finance and Economic Affairs, has apologised to the country’s lawmakers for understating the national budget while recently tabling the 2013 Annual Estimates of Revenue and Expenditure of the Government of The Gambia for the Fiscal year January to December 2013 at the National Assembly in Banjul.

“The Gambia government's 2013 expenditure and net-lending is projected at D8,301.5 billion and not D6,719.3 billion as stated while presenting the draft budget estimates before the House on Monday [3 December 2012],” Minister Kolley said on Wednesday at the National Assembly.

He added that the total revenue and grants for 2013 is D7,608.8 billion and not D6,528 billion.

Meanwhile, the National Assembly Members approved the 2013 Draft Budget Estimates of Revenue and Expenditure of The Gambia for the Fiscal Year January to December 2013, with amendments.

Speaking during the debate preceding the approval of the draft budget estimates, Hon. Fatou Mbye, the deputy speaker of the National Assembly, noted that the draft estimates are “very reasonable and realistic”, considering the economic situation of The Gambia and the anticipated expenditure and revenue.

She said the key social sectors, among them the education sector, continue to receive the attention they deserve, which she said is a tool to the attainment of the development objective. 

“It is an open secret that parents still pay for their children’s school fees and we look forward to a day when free and compulsory education will be a reality, particularly at the basic level,” she said.

Over 40,000 people with hypertension in Gambia

About 40,627 people in the country are living with hypertension, high blood pressure, according to data provided by the director of Health Promotion and Education Directorate of the Ministry of Health and Social Welfare. 

Hypertension is one of the several risk factors that can increase one’s chance of developing heart disease, stroke, and other serious conditions.

The figure, though high, is lower than the 55,563 people with hypertension in 2011. 

World Health Organization has ranked hypertension as 12 among the top 20 causes of death in the Gambia.

The data from the Directorate of Health Promotion and Education was made available during a daylong sensitization workshop on Non-Communicable Diseases (NCDs) prevention and control for journalists held at the conference room of the Royal Victoria Teaching Hospital in Banjul on 30 November 2012.

For diabetes, the data indicate that 3,337 people have the disease in 2011 and it has increased to 4,734 in 2012. 

According to the WHO, diabetes is the 7 among top 20 causes of death in The Gambia.

The rate of diabetes in The Gambia is said to be alarming.

The Director of Health Promotion and Education, Modou Njai, said non-communicable diseases are of real concern to The Gambia government and the Ministry of Health and should be a concern to the general public as well. 

The NCDs are becoming a problem in both developed and developing countries, he said, adding that NCDs now top the agenda of any health meeting both nationally and internationally.

Dr Jagne of the Royal Victoria Teaching Hospital said hypertension and diabetes, like other non-communicable diseases, are not only problems in terms of deaths but they also impose huge economic burden on both individuals and governments.

He said they put more burden on people than infectious diseases do.

Gambia government to start giving development loan to civil servants in 2013

Civil servants in The Gambia now have all the reasons to smile as the government has budgeted D25 million to be given out as development loan to civil servants starting from January 2013.  

The Civil Service Loan Scheme will help civil servants to supplement their meagre salaries and empower themselves economically.

Hon. Kolley

However, the Minister of Finance and Economic Affairs, who disclosed the scheme, has said the loan will only be provided to qualified civil servants, though he is yet to publicly establish the criteria that will be used to know who is qualified. 

He has not also said whether the loan will be interest-free or not.

Finance Minister Abdou Kolley disclosed this escape-poverty loan scheme on 3 December 2012 at the National Assembly in Banjul while presenting the 2013 Annual Estimates of Revenue and Expenditure of the Government of The Gambia for the fiscal year January to December 2013.

However, some people have doubted the scheme’s sustainability and also raised fear that it might be politicised.

Nevertheless, if properly done, the plan could work as a deterrent to brain drain from the civil service that has for a long time seen government employees seek greener pastures in the private sector or abroad.

Gambia National Assembly Members capacitised to scrutinize national budget

National Assembly Members in The Gambia have undergone some rigorous training to equip them with the skills to critically analyse and scrutinize the annual budget estimates of the government as well as on how to examine the core policy strategies and development objectives of the government vis-à-vis the budget.

The training was recently organised by the Pro-Poor Advocacy Group with the financial support of the United Nations Development Programme in collaboration with the African Development Bank (AfDB) under the Institutional Support for Economic and Financial Governance project.

Speaker Abdoulie Bojang

The two-day workshop was held to ensure the country’s lawmakers make informed decisions on the allocation of resources for the social priority sectors; to enable them to assess the adequacy or otherwise of the levels of funding provided for the social priority sectors to meet the Millennium Development Goals and Programme for Accelerated Growth and Employment (PAGE) - the Gambia government’s development blueprint; to identify the funding shortfalls thereto; and to discuss strategies and sector proposals for resource mobilisation.

Speaking on the occasion, Speaker of the National Assembly Abdoulie Bojang said the training was necessary to equip parliamentarians to put due emphasis on the rationale behind the policy strategies and goals of government.

“As elective representatives of the people, we are inclined to put emphasis into the social priority sectors of health, education and agriculture without necessarily limiting ourselves to only these sectors, as all other sectors and cross-cutting issues are equally important,” he said.

GIABA collaborates with partners to fight money laundering, terrorism financing

The Inter-Governmental Action Group Against Money Laundering in West Africa (GIABA), in collaboration with the Government of Switzerland and Global Counter Terrorism Forum (GCTF), with the assistance of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, will hold a 3-day training workshop on Anti-Money Laundering and Counter-Financing of Terrorism (AML/CFT) from December 11 to 13, 2012 in Abuja, Nigeria.

The objectives of the workshop are to sensitize and raise the awareness of legal, financial and law enforcement officers from ECOWAS member states and some Maghreb states  on the fight against the scourges of money laundering (ML) and terrorist financing (TF) in the two regions.

The 3-day training will focus on the cooperation among border management agencies and relevant authorities in the combating of ML/TF, AML/CFT responsibilities of non-bank financial institutions, and AML/CFT measures targeting cash-based economies and informal routes for money transfer.

The training is expected to enable participants gain practical understanding of the complexities of AML/CFT and the implementation of international AML/CFT standards in order to tackle these threats effectively.

COMMENTARY: Gambia security officers seek fare on the street

Life in The Gambia is growing difficult by the day as economic hardship in the country continues to take its toll on almost everyone in the country.

The hardship in the country has driven many people to adopt various means of battling the harsh economic status quo, no less the national security officers some of whom have resorted to begging for transport fare, against their will.

Most of the security officers, like majority of Gambians, are finding it very difficult to even keep their heads above water as prices of basic commodities continue to skyrocket, the Dalasi continues to lose its value and people’s earning power remains stagnant, with less and less to purchase essentials of life with.

Twice, on different occasions, I have met with a security officer begging transport fare to go home after work.  One of them is an officer of the Police Intervention Unit, and the other a Fire and Rescue Services officer, both are part of the national security apparatus. 

‘Jerre jef bro, nakam, nga def’ (literally meaning thank you my brother, how you doing), the PIU officer told me one morning on my way to work. 

After I have responded to him, the officer begged for a fare to go to his house in Tabokoto. 

Few days after, on my way to work I met again with an officer of Fire and Rescue Services also begging for transport to Brikama.

“My brother, can you please help me with fare to Brikama, I just closed from work but I do not have fare to go back?” the officer appealed.

“Even if you don’t have the full fare to Brikama if I can have any amount, even D10 is good,” he added.

Even though it seemed these officers were asking for fare, the actual fact is that they were looking for some cash to help themselves.

Apart from students, security officers are keener in begging for lift when going and coming from work. Early in the morning and in the evening, security officers usually form line-ups on the roadside seeking lift to their home or going to work.  

A fire service officer has said a full fledge fire fighter – after six months of training at the training school – earns a basic salary of just D1,300.  Though there are some allowances – transport allowance (but those in the provinces get bush allowance instead of transport allowance) and house rent; all these cumulatively are not more than D800.  All the allowances and basic salary put together is just about D2,100.

“From this amount, you have to pay income tax and social security,” the officer said.  “What I am left with is always small, and expectations are high on workers - people expect so much from you - the expectations are higher than the salary you earn.”

Gambia to host launching of Africa Coast to Europe submarine cable system

The Gambia, a small state on the western tip of Africa, will host the launch of one of the most ambitious telecommunications projects in Africa, the Africa Coast to Europe (ACE) submarine cable on 19^th December 2012.

Up to 500 international policy-makers, regulators, operators, vendors and service providers from across the world are expected to converge in The Gambia for the historic launch of the Africa Coast to Europe (ACE) submarine cable.

The ACE consortium, which is led by France Telecom-Orange, is made up of 16 members from Africa and Europe. The US$700 million cable will ultimately extend over 17,000 km from Brittany in France to Cape Town in South Africa, at depths close to 6,000 metres below sea level, linking Europe to Africa with high-

capacity broadband connectivity.

In a statement from The Gambia Ministry of Information and Communication Infrastructure, Yves Ruggeri, the Chairman of ACE said: “This (ACE) is a milestone in the transformation and advancement of telecommunication in Africa. The system will use the most advanced high-speed broadband fibre optic technology.”

Moneys sent by Gambians abroad constitutes 10% of country’s GDP, exceed total export

Amadou Kolley

Remittances to The Gambia, moneys sent to The Gambia by Gambians in the Diaspora, has now been increasing more than ever and as of 2011, it constitutes up to 10% of the country’s Gross Domestic Product - more than the total monetary value of the country’s export which constitutes only 8 to 9% of the GDP.

The Central Bank Governor Amadou Colley said in The Gambia, remittances as a percentage of the GDP has grown over time from a mere about 3 – 4% in the 1990s to nearly 10% of the GDP in 2011.  In addition, he said, it has become one of the largest sources of foreign exchange for the country.  

Despite this significant contribution to the national economy, Governor Colley said The Gambia is still at the developmental stage to harness the full potentials of remittances.

In a statement read on his behalf by Ismaila Jarju, director of research at the Central of The Gambia during the launching of the Least Developed Countries (LDCs) report 2012 on Wednesday at the Ocean Bay Hotel in Bakau, Governor Colley noted that most of the remittances flows are channeled into consumption though it also plays a significant role in housing financing and it is also a key driver in other sectors such as the wholesale and retail trade. 

Gambia Gov’t spent hundreds of millions of dalasi without proper documentation, auditor general reveals

Auditor General Sankareh

The Gambia government has done payments or entered into financial transactions without adequate and proper documentations making it very difficult to certify the transactions are really free of fraud or in some cases the truthfulness of the transactions, reveals the Auditor Genegal’s report.

In the report, Auditor General Babucarr Sankareh, who raised eyebrow about the irregularities of the government’s financial transactions, said in the process of auditing government accounts, he did not receive appropriate and sufficient information to confirm the occurrence, accuracy, or even the existences of some financial transactions.  

“The scope of my audit was limited,” Mr Sankareh said in the audited report he prepared after auditing the financial statements of The Gambia government for the year ended 31 December 2007.

In the report presented to the National Assembly in Banjul in October 2012, Mr Sankareh said that during his audit, he noted that the government purchased vehicles on credit amounting to over D77 million in 2007. 

“These were single source procurements from TK Motors in contravention to the regulations of the Gambia Public Procurement Authority [GPPA],” he said.  “MOFEA (Ministry of Finance and Economic Affairs) was unable to provide documentation showing any approval from GPPA.  Detailed policies and procedures for the purchase of vehicles were not in place.”

That aside, the Auditor General said during the year (2007), government made payments amounting to over D33 million for which he, as the auditor general, was not provided with proper and adequate supporting documents. 

“Payment vouchers for D3,190,388.11 of these payments were not presented while the balance of D30,195,035.50 had payment vouchers without adequate supporting documents in contraventions to the Financial Instructions,” he said.

“In the absence of payment vouchers and adequate supporting documentation, I was not able to confirm the validity of the payments,” he added. 

Again, Mr Sankareh disclosed that he identified balances totaling over D38 million as 31 December 2007 held for government in commercial bank accounts that were not reported.

My tenure at the GCCI was very eventful: Bai Matarr Drammeh

The apex body of the Gambia private sector has seen the exit of several of its presidents who have worked very hard to take the chamber to higher levels in its over 40-year existence. The seventh in that trend is Bai Matarr Drammeh, who served the chamber for six years (2006 - 2012).  In this interview, the astute economist and private investor, who has served at senior capacity in many institutions in The Gambia and beyond, speaks to MatketPlace Business newspaper on his tenure as President of the Gambia Chamber of Commerce and Industry (GCCI).

Bai Matarr Drammeh

Having served the private sector of The Gambia for six years as president of the GCCI, how would you explain your term of service?

It was eventful; I will say that I am very pleased because if you were at the annual general meeting [held on 5 October 2012] you would see the interest members have in the Chamber now. 

During the AGM in 2006, when I was elected as the president, I said that I was coming in for two reasons: one, to make sure that the Chamber has a head office, and secondly to increase the number and quality of members.  These were my mission and I have been able to achieve them.

There were other things you could have chosen to be your mission as the president, why did you choose these particular ones?

I realised that for over 40 years of existence of the GCCI, we were renting, could not identify a place for our own property, our own home.  If an organization is to be looked upon as a very serious organization it should have something to be identified with, your own office and there was nothing the Chamber had to show to the public that is worth emulating.  So when I realised that, I said to myself somebody got to do it.  I was the seventh president, so before me there were six presidents and my immediate predecessor, [Abdoulie Baks Touray] often told me that ‘What you have done is what I wanted to do and is what all the previous presidents of the Chamber wanted to do, but God has allowed you to get it done so we should all be happy; you are the one who has been able to do what we could not do’. 

What were your strengths as the president of the Chamber?

My strength was the fact that I am a very patient guy, I used to be calm in doing things - I am very calm and understanding.  That aside, I am a very good listener.  All these together gave me an easy ride.  In difficult moments or in moments of misunderstanding I will be strong enough to say ‘no!’  I will say ‘no this is where I am going, if you are with me we go this way; if you are not with me I still go the way I was going’. 

I have had good times with the board members and rough times with some of them who had other agenda, who wanted to do other things different from what I wanted but then I have stayed on course and I got up to where we are now and at the end they are all happy about it. 

Sometimes it’s not very easy though, but we got things done, because I had very good board members who were sincere, committed, and open and if they were convinced something was good, or was in the interest of the Chamber they would go along. 

And I was particularly pleased with the female board members because they are very, very loyal and supportive.  I can tell you that the female members of any organization are always the best members of the organization – they are always loyal and dedicated.

What were some of your weaknesses?

Indeed I have weakness; some people in the end call it virtue, but I think it was a weakness, it was a weakness in that I over controlled my temperament. There were moments when I could have said awful things to my people because of the way they reacted but I was able to keep calm and in the end I would blame myself for not having done so – get angry and say things that may not be nice.  So, that I thought was a weakness but others tell me ‘no it is a virtue, it’s wisdom and it comes with maturity’ but I thought it as a weakness. I think that is my only weakness.

I am sure you may have had some things you wanted to accomplish during your tenure but could not for one thing or the other. Can you share these with us?

Yes, yes absolutely that is true.  I really, really wanted to get a trade fair complex for the Chamber.  The government has been kind enough to allocate a piece of land for that purpose and it’s located near the Sukuta Women’s Garden, in Sukuta.  I have started talking to some outside partners to get the place constructed.  We were on the verge of getting a suitable plan as to how the place should be built but I have every confidence that the new president will take it up because when I was the president he was my trade fair manager, so he knows everything that is important to know about the trade fair and I think he will dedicate some time in making sure that the complex is built. 

Religion leaders urge to protect children in prayers and actions

Fanta Bai Secka

Fanta Bai Secka, Director Social Welfare, has called on religion leaders to do more in their words and deeds to protect children as The Gambia joined the world in commemorating World Day of Prayer and Action for Children on 20^th November.

“The involvement of Religious and Faith-based organizations is essential in promoting and improving children’s issues because all religions have texts about children’s well-being, their upbringing as well as protection, among others,” Mrs Secka said on Tuesday 20^th November during a press briefing at the Ministry of Health and Social Welfare in Banjul as part line-up of activities scheduled to mark the Day in The Gambia.

The three-year (2010 – 2012) global theme for the commemoration of the World Day of Prayers and Action for Children: “Stop Violence Against Children” has been localised in The Gambia as “Let Stop Violence and Sexual Abuse Against Children Now.” 

The director of Social Welfare said because many religion organizations work in communities and with the people, they have easier access to vulnerable children in the most deprived communities where other stakeholders often do not reach.

GPTC hastily laid to rest at a time when needed most

At a time when the transport system in the country is getting worse hence the need for a viable public transport system, the National Assembly Members has urgently and hastily repealed the Gambia Public Transport Corporation (GPTC) Act 1976 leading to the disbanding of the public transport service.

Sidia Jatta, former National Assembly Member for Wuli West Constituency and a member of the National Alliance for Democracy and Development, has earlier on noted that the transport situation in the country “is disastrous”, saying that one only needs to stand on the way, particularly at the Banjul Serrekunda Highway, “to see how disastrous” the transport situation has become.

On the heels of this, Minister of Works, Construction and Infrastructure, Francis Liti Mboge, sought on 19^th November 2012 the approval of the Lawmakers to repeal the Act that established the GPTC and the Parliamentarians did just as the Minister wished without any hesitation.

Ebrima Garba Cham, the secretary general of The Gambia National Trade Union Congress (GNTUC) has said that it is important for government to take a comprehensive mechanism as an institution of investment to develop a National Strategy of Transport in this country. 

This he said should include all public transport including the ferry services.

According to the Minister of Works, the government is ever conscious of its commitment to provide public transport for the socio-economic development of the country.  He hinted the parliamentarians that plans are on the way for the revival of public transport in line with the objectives of the Programme for Accelerated Growth and Employment (PAGE).

Gambia national broadcaster in serious financial problem

National Assembly would have advised the institution to be closed down and declared it bankrupt

The national broadcaster, Gambia Radio and Radio and Television Services, is in huge financial mess as its total liability, the amount it owed to other individuals and institutions, at the moment are three times more than the total current assets, all its belongings, implying a serious liquidity problem.

The director general of the institution, Alhagie Momodou Sanyang, has cried for government’s swift intervention to enable the GRTS to operate effectively and efficiently saying that more needs to be done to sustain the financially weak national institution. 

GRTS faces grave challenges despite registering modest achievements in 2011, the DG Sanyang acknowledged while presenting the 2011 activity report and financial statements of the GRTS on 20th November at the National Assembly for scrutiny by the Public Accounts and Public Enterprise committees who are currently inspecting the annual activity reports and audited financial statements of all public enterprises and agencies of The Gambia government since 1st October this year.

However, he said, much more needs to be done especially in terms of funding to ensure the sustainability of the national broadcaster.

Regional delegates discussed IFAD-funded Projects in Gambia

About 300 delegates comprising representatives from IFAD-funded projects in West and Central Africa, governments’ representatives and NGOs are recently completed a meeting in The Gambia to discuss how to continuously improve the performance of IFAD-funded projects and grants in terms of relevance, effectiveness, and efficiency; among other things. 

It was the 7^th Regional Forum for IFAD-funded Projects held at the Kairaba Beach Hotel in Kololi from 12^th to 15^th November 2012 on the theme, ‘Result-based management for sustaining rural poverty reduction: lessons learned and challenges’.

Speaking at the opening of the forum on Monday, The Gambia’s Minister of Agriculture, Mr Solomon Owens, said the forum will lead to concrete conclusions and actions for enhancing the pro-poor impact of development interventions not only in The Gambia but in all the countries within our two sub-regions – West and Central Africa.

Africa could witness 98% increase in diabetes cases by 2030

The Africa Regional Director of World Health Organization, Dr Luis Gomes Sambo, have projected that Africa will witness a 98% increase in diabetes cases from 12.1 million in 2010 to 23.9 million by 2030, should the current trends continue. 

Diabetes is a serious, chronic and costly disease that imposes life-long demands not only on people living with the disease, but also on their families

In a statement read on his behalf by WHO Gambia Health Promotion Officer, Momodou Gasama, on World Diabetes Day on Wednesday, Dr Sambo said surveys carried out recently in the WHO African Region indicate that up to 15% of adults aged 25 – 64 years have diabetes.

The overwhelming majority are unaware they have the disease. Consequently many cases are diagnosed late, usually after complications have become so evident, he said.

Furthermore, a significant number of diabetes patients in Africa lack access to proper treatment and diabetes medicines, especially insulin, resulting in an avoidable complications such as neurological, vascular or visual disorders, heart disease, stroke, lower limb amputation and kidney failure, as well as other chronic diseases.

Sambo noted that an estimated 230 million people worldwide are currently suffering from diabetes."The number is likely to more than double by 2030, if effective interventions are not undertaken."

IFAD spent over US$53 million in Gambia, benefiting over 126,000 people

The International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) has provided financing for nine projects and programmes in The Gambia amounting to US$53.7 million directly benefiting over 126,000 rural households in the country.

IFAD is operating in The Gambia since 1982 providing support and assistance to rural farmers.

Speaking at the 7th Regional Forum for IFAD-funded Projects held in Gambia at the Kairaba Beach Hotel in Kololi from 12th to 15th November 2012, the Minister of Agriculture, Solomon Owens, said IFAD is currently supporting three major projects in The Gambia, namely: the Participatory Integrated Watershed Development Project (PIWAMP), the Livestock and Horticulture Development Project (LHDP), and the Rural Finance Project (RFP).

“These three on-going projects are all focusing on increasing agricultural production and productivity while increasing incomes of rural women and youth through appropriate land and water management technologies; improved vegetable and livestock schemes; and enhanced access to much needed financial support respectively,” Mr Owens said. 

He pointed out that the performance and impact of these projects have so far been impressive.

According to him, PIWAMP data indicate that with the project’s interventions, over 34,000 hectares of land are under crop cultivation benefiting almost 80,000 rural farmers of which 53% are women.  Through RFP support to over 60 Village Savings and Credit Associations (VISACAs) more than 32,000 rural poor people, about 40% women, are benefiting from the VISACA services.  And thorough LHDP support, 18 hectares of fodders fields have been established, directly benefiting about 1,200 small ruminant owners, 98% being women.

About 1.4 billion people still live in abject poverty globally

About a fifth of mankind still live in abject poverty, dispute the numerous national and global efforts during the past years on the first target of the Millennium Development Goals which aimed to decrease extreme poverty by one-half by the year 2015.

Abdou Touray, Programme Specialist – Poverty and MDGs at the United Nations Development Programme country office in The Gambia said as of 2011 the poorest 40 percent of the world’s population account for 5 percent of global income and the richest 20 percent accounts for three-quarter of world income. 

“Rural areas account for three in every four people living on less than US$1 a day and similar share of the world population suffering from malnutrition,” Mr Touray said on Monday at the commencement of the 7th Regional Forum for IFAD-funded Projects held in The Gambia from 12th to 15th November 2012.

According to the Mr Touray, poverty remains predominantly rural problems as the majority of the world’s poor are located in rural areas. 

He said: “It is estimated that 76 percent of the developing world’s poor live in rural areas, well above the overall population share living in rural areas, which is only 58 percent.”

Disparities between rural and urban areas are on the rise, particularly in many developing and transitional countries.

Globally, rural people and rural places tend to be disadvantaged relative to their urban counterparts and poverty rate increase as rural areas become more remote.  Individuals living in rural areas tend to have less access to social services, exacerbating the effects of rural poverty.

According to the poverty specialist, over the years there has been tremendous support to various types of interventions aimed at reducing poverty.  However, he observed that as it stands now, it looks like most developing countries particularly Sub-Saharan Africa countries will not met the Millennium Development Goals target of eradicating extreme poverty and hunger by 2015.

Alarming rate of diabetes in Gambia

The rate of diabetes in The Gambia is alarming, the Minister of Health and Social Welfare, Fatim Badjie, said as The Gambia joined other countries around the world to commemorate World Diabetes Day on 14^th November.

Health Nutrition and Population Statistics, the World Bank’s comprehensive database of health, nutrition and population (HNP) statistics, has it that diabetes prevalence in The Gambia among the population ages 20 to 79 is 4.26%, in 2010.  However, though the rate of diabetes is said to be increasing, there is no latest statistics available as to the estimated percentage of the population with the disease or at risk of the disease.

Minister Badjie

The Health Minister noted that efforts must be employed to contain the situation.  “There is an urgent need for action to protect the health of our people.  Particular focus should be placed on the importance of education for health, targeting people who are diabetics and people at risk in order to reduce its impact in the world, Gambia in particular,” she said.

According to the Health Minister, diabetes can affect anyone especially those who are not watchful in terms of their diet.  She said diabetes is a killer disease in terms of its complications. 

Uncontrolled diabetics lead to blindness, impotence, kidney failure, stroke, heart disease, hypertension and amputation. 

Gambia’s Health Minister noted that taking proper medication can help to improve the diabetes conditions “but we can live a normal and even healthier life with diabetes if we exercise regularly and watch what we eat”.

IFAD awards Gambia US$ 34 million project to reduce poverty of rural women and youth

The International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) has recently awarded The Gambia a US$34 million project to reduce the poverty of rural women and youth in the country. 

The project, National Agricultural Land and Water Management Development Project dubbed Nema, is to increase the incomes of rural women and youth from improved productivity based on sustainable land and water management practices.

According to Mod K. Ceesay Deputy Permanent Secretary of Ministry of Finance and Economic Affairs, Nema project is one of the biggest IFAD programmes in The Gambia to help smallfarmers, especially women and youth, to improve land and water management to increase rice and vegetable production.

Momodou Gassama, coordinator of the project, said the Nema project is targeting all the six agricultural regions in the country and will focus on women and youth to enable them to participate more actively in development initiatives.

The Nema project would support and develop further The Gambia Government’s priority to transform the largely rain-fed production systems into sustainable market-oriented agriculture based on the smallholder, mainly women and youth.

Fatou Samba Njai, President of the Women Wing of the National Coordinating Organisation for Farmers Associations The Gambia (NACOFAG) acknowledged that farmers were fully involved in design of the Nema project.

Gamtel made huge revenue using outdated equipments

In 2011, the Gambia Telecommunication Company Limited (Gamtel) made total revenue of D1.450 billion, but despite this, the company continues to operate on outdated equipments which threatens its ability to compete in the telecoms industry.  The company also made financial loses of D63 million.           

Gamtel, one time second best telecoms services provider in Africa, is currently faced with many challenges, some of which are blamed on an aging network infrastructure and the use of obsolete equipments.

As Gamtel presented its annual activity report and financial statement of 2011 to the National Assembly, in Banjul, for scrutiny on Tuesday, the Lawmakers raised eyebrow, expressing disappointment that a whole national telecoms company is operating on obsolete equipments, when its competitors in the highly competitive market are largely operating on modern and cost effective equipments.

However, the Managing Director of Gamtel, Mr. Baboucarr Sanyang, told the National Assembly Members that the company is embarking on some capital intensive projects aimed at upgrading, expanding and introducing new telecoms services in response to the growing challenges.

One of Gamtel’s main challenges is the threat posed by its competitors and an increasing demand of customers’ requirements for more efficient service delivery.

Gambia to miss the MDG target of halving poverty by 2015

Abdou Kolley, Finance Minister

With the high rate of poverty in The Gambia and the modest achievement in reducing it, there is a likelihood that the country will not met the goal number one of the Millennium Development Goals, which is to eradicate extreme poverty and hunger by 2015.

However, the Minister of Finance and Economic Affairs, Abdou Kolley, acknowledged that as of now the country may or not achieve the MDG target of eradicating extreme poverty.  “It’s a probability,” he confirmed, though he pointed out that the government is employing all efforts to achieve this all important MDG target and such efforts includes boosting agricultural production and productivity as it employs a large percentage of Gambia’s labour force and contributes significantly to the country’s gross domestic product.

Statistics indicates that majority of Gambia’s 1.8 million people still live in poverty despite the reported “robust economic growth” over the years.  More than 40 % of those who are employed still live below the poverty line of $1.25 per day.

Speaking on behalf of Ms Chinwe Diké UN, Resident Coordinator, on Monday at the opening of the 7th Regional Forum for IFAD-funded Projects held in The Gambia from 12^th to 15^th November 2012, Mr Abdou Touray said given the historical trends and modest reduction in poverty levels in The Gambia, the MDG target of halving extreme poverty will not be met by the country, if efforts are not accelerated.