Gambia’s Human Development Index Ranking Drops

By Lamin Jahateh, The Gambian Banker, Banjul The UNDP’s 2010 Global Human Development Report 2010 has placed The Gambia 151 out of 169 countries ranked in its Human Development Index. The latest ranking means the country has dropped by one per cent from its 2009 ranking. The Human Development Index (HDI) measures a country’s average achievements in three basic aspects of human development. These are health, education and income. The HDI ranking is part of the UNDP’s Global Human Development Report 2010 on the theme ‘The Real Wealth of Nations: Pathways to Human Development’. It was launched by the Vice President, Dr Aja Isatou Njie-Saidy on Wednesday at the Kairaba Beach Hotel.   The 2010 HDR is the 20th anniversary of the edition.  The report was launched at global level by the UNDP Administrator Helen Clark on 4th November 2010. The Gambia is ranked below many countries in the region including Ghana (130), Benin (134), Nigeria (142), Senegal (144), and above some countries such as Sierra Leone (158), Mali (160) and Liberia (162). The HDI was introduced as an alternative to conventional measures of national development, such as level of income and the rate of economic growth.   The HDI was created to emphasize that people and their capabilities should be the ultimate criteria for assessing the development of a country, not economic growth alone. In her launching statement, the Vice President of The Gambia, Dr Isatou  Njie-Saidy, said:  “An analysis using the gender inequality index, as stated in the 2010 report, noted that investments in girls and women to have equal educational and employment opportunities, access to health services, participation in decision-making at all levels, is a catalyst to a nation’s human development given its multiplier effects.” Against this backdrop, she said, The Gambia is poised to achieving universal primary education by 2015 “as parity was attained at this level as early as 2003”.  “The Net Enrolment Ratio rose from a low of 45 per cent between 1991/1992 to about 75 per cent in 2008/2009,” she added. On health, the Vice President said that some significant progress have been made focusing on the three health-related Millennium Development Goals (MDGs)  4, 5, and 6 and relevant targets such as child and maternal mortality, and morbidity; HIV/AIDs; and Malaria reduction. She continued: “Overall, there has been considerable achievement in child survival as infant mortality rate according to national census dropped from 217 per 1000 in 1973 to 75 per 1000 live births in 2003.  Maternal mortality also declined from 1050 per 100,000 in 1990 to 730 per 100,000 in 2001 and 556 per 100,000 live births in 2006. On the other hand, the prevalence of HIV infection dropped from 2.8 per cent in 2006 to 1.4 per cent in 2007, whereas, HIV 2 dropped from 0.9 in 2006 to 0.5 per cent in 2007 receptively. On malaria, recent data from the six sentinel sites showed that the incidence of malaria has been declining in the country.  “The number of under-five year old children sleeping under insecticide treaded bed nets has increased from 15 per cent in 2000 to 49 per cent in year 2006,” she said. The HDR 2010 adopted the holistic approach by using a variety of information related to different aspects of human life, concentrating on what remains to be done, and focusing on key priorities such as climate change, mortality and morbidity, poverty and deprivation, as well as inequality and insecurity, with room to accommodate new concerns and considerations including forecasts of the natural levels of the Human Development Index. Janis James, who spoke on behalf of the UNDP resident coordinator, Ms Chinwe Dike, and the Vice Chancellor of the University of The Gambia, also spoke at length about the report and its significance.

GTBank earmarks D4 million for ‘Gambia for Gold’

By Lamin Jahateh, Banjul Guaranty Trust Bank, a leading bank in The Gambia, has earmarked D4 million for ‘Gambia for Gold’, which is an initiative of the Gambia government through the Ministry of Youth and Sports to mobilize funding for the country’s national football teams. GTBank has committed itself to giving one million dalasis to ‘Gambia for Gold’ each year, starting from 2011, for the period of four years. This agreement was sealed on Friday at a signing ceremony held at the Ministry of Youth and Sports in Banjul. Pic: GTBank MD, Olalekan Sanusi, Signing the Agreement “One million dalasis every year is our pledge and that is the contract we have signed today. We have already factored it into our budget and we have committed one million dalasis every year in support of football in the country,” GTBank’s Managing Director Olalekan Sanusi said.  “We want to make it clear that doing this does not mean it’s the best we can do; we will still continue to look for opportunities and ways through which we will continue to support sports, football in particular, for the interest of all of us.” He continued: “Today we are making history. I remember my professor tell me that there are so many categories of people in life: there are people who make history, there are people who watch history being made, and there are people who join as history is being made.  We are fortunate to be the set of people to make history in Gambian sports, particularly football.” One thing that is very essential in sports is financing, MD Sanusi avers, saying that his bank that has served the Gambia Football Association (GFA), they would never sit by and see the FA in need and refuse to give them a helping hand. “So when this initiative was launched, we say we will be part of the history that Gambia for Gold is making and coincidentally we owe the responsibility to The Gambia,” the GTBank MD said. “We have been in operation for about nine years now and this year we will be in our ten years of operation in The Gambia; so we were saying that as part of our ten-year celebration we must launch a major thing for the society.  So when this opportunity came it was extremely timely and we are happy that it was the authorities themselves that have created such initiative; so we as an institution have just joined the bus as way to mark our own ten years of operation in The Gambia.” The Gambian society has been very supportive of GTBank as they continue to patronize the bank.  “As we speak today GTBank is the third largest bank in The Gambia. We owe that to the Gambian people, who have developed confidence in us, because to patronise a bank there must be confidence that you have in the bank,” Mr Sanusi said.  “The people have developed confidence in us and have given us the patronage. Although we have been sponsoring a number of other programmes, we think it’s high time to give something significant to the society, and fortunately we have chosen something that is very dearly to the heart of every Gambian - football is such an important sport that we all love very dearly and I will implore all Gambians, both individuals and institutions, to rise at this occasion and we all come to the rescue of football.” Apart from the bank’s D4 million commitment, the GTBank MD revealed, the bank has opened an account for ‘Gambia for Gold’. GTBank runs a network called Online Real Time, which means anywhere you are in The Gambia - whether in Basse, Farafenni or Brikama -  you can pay money into this account and it will be credited directly into the account of ‘Gambia for Gold’.  MD Sanusi said: “The account number is 202153665110, and what we intend to do is that in all our banking halls we are going to display this account number so that for every individual who comes to the bank, we are going to encourage them to put something into this account. Your five dalasis you put into this account will go a long a way in the support of football in the country.” Minister of Youth and Sports Sheriff Gomez, in his remarks, said his ministry is striving to mobilise resources to make sure the Gambia’s national football teams are unhindered in their preparations for international competitions. “We may not get everything we need at the right time but I think what is important is that the whole country should realize that this effort must get us all to start by now what becomes our contribution towards this endeavour,” Hon. Gomez said. He continued: “The coach understands that he has to prepare the team so that they can play the ball and win; the GFA knows they have to do the technical preparations; the ministry knows it is their job to raise funds for the national teams, and Gambians and non-Gambians in The Gambia know their part, which is to make sure that we contribute to the funding and resource mobilization for the teams. “We are appealing for everybody to come together to put in the resources. Now is the time to put in our resources; when it comes to the marches we put our moral support.” Tombong Saidy, Chairperson of ‘Gambia for Gold’,  for his part , said  that even before GTBank came as the banking partner of ‘Gambia for Gold’, the bank was doing a lot in supporting sports in the country.  “GTBank has been helping football in this country; so it is befitting that they have come on board as a bank partner for Gambia for Gold, and we really appreciate it, and we applaud their efforts.” He added: “GTBank will give us 4 million in four years, meaning every year they will give us one million and every quarter they will give us quarter of a million before the period ends. So we are guaranteed that money will be coming in steadily.” Mr Saidy, in conclusion, appeals to the nation, saying: “Once again and I am appealing to the public to come forward and support ‘Gambia for Gold’, because we need to raise between D32 to D64 million in the next four years so that we can finance the national teams, especially the senior team.”

All the banks except one meet the capital requirement

Lamin Jahateh, Banjul Thirteen out of the fourteen banks in The Gambia have met the minimum capital requirement as of the deadline of 31st December 2010, Central Bank of The Gambia has announced. The Central Bank of The Gambia (CBG) has issued a directive in 2008 to increasing the minimum capital of banks in two stages from D60 million to D150 million and D200 million to be observed by end December 2010 and end December 2012 respectively. All the banks, apart from Oceanic Bank (Gambia) Limited, met the requirement.  However, Oceanic Bank (Gambia) Limited inability to increased its minimum capital requirement is because its parent company, Oceanic Bank International Plc in Nigeria, has decided to divest from all local and international subsidiaries, hence its decision not to augment the capital of Oceanic Bank (Gambia) Limited to the minimum requirement of D150 million. A higher minimum capital requirement serves several purposes, according to the CBG.  “It would ensure that banks are better able to withstand periods of economic and financial stress and therefore support economic growth; maintains market confidence in the solvency of the banking system; (iii) Imposes market discipline, provides a large cushion to protect tax payers from the risk of being called to bail out failing banks.” The capital increase, CBG says, would further enhance the safety and soundness of the Gambian banking system which, in turn, promotes economic growth. Earlier on the CBG has said only eight of the fourteen banks met the capital requirement of D150 million.  The CBG has resolved not to grant request for forbearance if a bank fails to meet the requirement and to mitigate systemic risk that may arise from the revocation of a banking license, the CBG shall take the following actions: invoke section 45 of the Banking Act 2009 and take over the bank; thereafter the CBG may invoke Sections 48 and 51 of the Banking Act 2009 and place the institution in conservatorship to be sold, merged or restructured; and apply to the High Court for compulsory liquidation under Section 52 of the Banking Act as a last resort.

‘Poverty is increasing in The Gambia’

Finance Minister begs to disagree  National Assembly Member for Wuli West, Sidia Jatta, has said poverty is increasing in The Gambia but Finance Minister Abdou Kolley begs to disagree, saying poverty is in fact decreasing.  Pic: Hon. Sidia Jatta, Member for Wuli West “What we would acknowledge is may be the rate at which poverty is declining is not as fast as we would want it to be,” Hon. Kolley said. In his argument while putting the point across that the situation of poverty is increasing, Hon. Jatta said the transport situation in the country “is disastrous”, that one only needs to stand on the way, particularly at the Banjul Serrekunda Highway, “to see how disastrous” the transport situation has become. “So all those factors have compounded the situation; rather than decreasing poverty, they are increasing poverty,” he said. “So I cannot be convinced that poverty is in any way decreasing, because what is happening can only add to the worsening of poverty in the country.” Hon. Kolley, who is often praised by parliamentarians for always being at the National Assembly as and when necessary to answer questions related to his ministry, responded:  “I want to assure him [Sidia Jatta] that poverty is not on the increase, it’s on the decline. “What we would acknowledge is may be the rate at which poverty is declining is not as fast as we would want it to be. All poverty indicators indicate that poverty is declining but at a slower pace than what was expected. So when he [Sidia Jatta] said poverty is increasing, I don’t know where he got the figures from.” Many experts believe that until poverty is defined or a functional definition of what constitutes poverty is at least agreed upon, solutions to the problem of poverty will continue to remain elusive, and people, particularly politicians, will continue to disagree as to the level of poverty in the country. That was what really took place between the finance minister and the National Assembly member as regards poverty in The Gambia. Poverty could be defined as the state or condition of not having the means to afford the basic human needs necessary for the maintenance of a tolerable standard of living such as clean water, nutrition, health care, education, clothing, and shelter. The 2009 Human Development Report of the United Nations Development Programme ranked The Gambia 168th of a total of 182 low-income countries. In The Gambia, several poverty studies have been conducted with each study adopting a different methodology but in all the studies, overall poverty and food poverty were used to estimate the head count index. The first poverty study conducted in 1992 revealed that in terms of overall poverty, 31 per cent of the population were poor; 33.1 per cent of the population in the urban areas were food poor compared to 54 per cent in the rural areas. The second poverty study conducted in 1998 showed that overall poverty was significantly increasing from 31 per cent in 1992 to 69 per cent by 1998.  The study also showed huge differences between the populations living in different localities, as 60 per cent of the population in the rural areas were poor compared to only 13 per cent of those living in the urban areas. The third poverty study was carried out in 2003.  In this study, the poverty head count index was 58 per cent with the likelihood of ‘being poor’ higher in households located in rural areas; the proportion ranging from 34% for Banjul and Kanifing combined, 56 per cent in other urban areas and 67.8 per cent for predominantly rural areas. Like in 1992 and 1998, overall levels in 2003 were also higher in local government areas that are predominantly rural compared to the urban settlements in the Greater Banjul Area. The head count index reduced to 58 per cent in 2003 and overall poverty levels decreased in all regions except CRR North and South. In 2003, CRR had the highest poverty rates compared to NBR, LRR and URR, which had the highest rates in 1998. However, poverty levels have been on the rise since 1992, from 30 per cent of households living below the poverty level to 58 per cent in 2003. The MDG Status Report for 2007 indicates that “the country is far from achieving MDG target of 15 per cent”, which is to halve, between 1990 and 2015, the proportion of people whose income is less than one dollar a day. The PRSP report of 2006 placed the national poverty level at 74 per cent of the population. Relative to the 2002 estimates of 54 per cent, the 2006 level represents a 20 per cent rise in poverty level in just four years. These estimates invoke an alarming phenomenon that seems to militate against efforts at national economic development. Poverty distribution among the different segments of the population is far from symmetric, and that various studies have shown that gender and age distribution as well as location within the country have a bearing on the level of poverty, says the Gambia Competition Commission chairman Alieu Njie. Mr Njie says women and youth have a higher level of poverty than male adults in the 39-50 age brackets. “Poverty levels also tend to be higher in rural than urban and peri-urban areas of the country,” he added. “Thus, age, gender and geographic location tend to influence both the degree and intensity of poverty.” Breaking out of poverty requires strategies that would enable the poor to free themselves from the vicious circle either through education or through access to the means by which the poor can raise their level of production, productivity and consequently income and living standard. The country’s Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper II (PRSP II) indicates also that 68 per cent of rural population and 40 per cent of urban population live in poverty. Despite government efforts to eradicate poverty in the country, it seems the menace is escalating, according to the Core Welfare Indicator Survey (a countrywide survey) that was jointly conducted by The Gambia Bureau of Statistics (GBoS), the National Planning Commission and PRO-PAG in 2009, facilitated by the United Nations Development Programme. About 63 per cent of the 3000 households surveyed classified themselves as poor of whom the proportion was highest in Kuntaur with 68.8 per cent, and lowest in Basse with 59.3 per cent. For households that regarded themselves as very poor, Janjanbureh tops the list with an account of 31.1 per cent, and Kanifing had the lowest with 17.1 per cent, while 15 per cent of households regarded themselves as non-poor and the proportion was highest in Brikama with 19.6 per cent and lowest in Kuntaur with 3.5 per cent. On household economic situation, 22 per cent of the population reported that the situations of their communities were little better compared to the year 2008; in addition, 22 per cent of the households reported that their situation remain the same while 15 per cent noted that theirs is little worse now, and 10.2 indicated that their situation is much worse and it was higher in the urban than in the rural areas.

Telecoms investment nosedive

By Lamin Jahateh, Banjul Investment in The Gambia’s telecommunication sector has decelerated in 2009, as indicated by the latest report of the sector’s regulatory body. The latest annual report of The Gambia Public Utility Regulatory Authority (PURA) states that total annual investment in the telecommunication sector was equivalent to D699.3 million in 2009 compared to the 2008 figures of D874 million. “This shows a 17.4% fall in investment figures in the sector,” the report states.  The reported figures show QCell, the latest entrant in the country’s telecoms sector, with the highest amount of investment in 2009. Before 2009, The Gambia has been experiencing steady growth in the telecommunications sector, especially as the cell phone revolution intensified in the country in the last six years with the coming of Africell, Comium, and QCell in 2009.  These developments shot up telecoms investment in the country and spurred competition in the sector by mobile operators. Employment While unemployment poses a serious challenge to national development, and the government continues to put in place remedial measures to create job opportunities for Gambians, the PURA report indicated that 2,139 people were employed in the telecoms sector at the end of 2009, from the 2007 and 2008 levels of 1976 and 1840 employees respectively.  “This shows that the sector has registered moderate 8.3% growth in employment during the period under review,” the report states. Subscriber base The telecoms sector reported 1,409,732 voice subscribers in 2009 a net addition of 194,732 voice subscriber to the 2008 figures of 1,215, 004 voice subscribers, which represented 3.6% growth. The number of reported mobile subscribers grew by 16.7% during 2009 compared to 45.9% recorded during 2008; whilst the fixed line subscribers had recorded a decrease in growth rate of -0.8%. “The less impressive growth in the mobile subscribers number in 2009 could be a as a result of the market reaching saturation,” the reported states. Telephone penetration level The telephone penetration level, which is measured as the percentage of the population owing a fixed and or mobile services, has been very impressive over the last three years, 2007, 2008, and 2009, registering, 54.47%, 76% and 88.11% respectively.  According to the report, the rationale for this impressive performance in the penetration level is as a result of the strong performance registered in the mobile subscriber base.  The mobile penetration level constitutes about 94%, 96% and 97% of the total penetration levels in 2007, 2008, and 2009 respectively. GSM growth in Africa Africa is leading in the GSM growth rate, according to the GSM Association Universal Access Report, which maintains that mobile operators are providing universal access in many developing markets, and have done so “at a pace unimaginable’. The report states that in Africa the growth rate is the fastest in the world and “already contains some very significant success stories”.  It also revealed that amongst the 43 African countries surveyed, 10 have achieved GSM coverage greater than 90% of population and a further 8 have coverage of 70% or greater, the report reveals. It says that approximately half of African countries face a greater challenge to bring greater geographical and population coverage to markets where penetration and affordability are low.  It added that these are generally low income countries, mostly with large geographical areas or topographical and electricity supply infrastructures, which contribute to high operator costs, the report indicates. < Prev   Next >

Government further reduces corporate tax

By Lamin Jahateh, Banjul The government of The Gambia has agreed to further reduce the corporate tax by 1 percent, from 33 percent to 32 percent, following a two percent reduction in 2010, from 35 percent to 33 percent. As an incentive for voluntary compliance with business and tax laws and regulations, including keeping of proper books of accounts, government says subsequent reductions in corporate tax will only be applicable to businesses that have satisfactorily submitted audited accounts for the preceding year to the Gambia Revenue Authority (GRA). “However, the private sector should be ready and willing to provide equity capital and bear part of the risk, without which the required investments for infrastructure and agriculture cannot be realize,” Hon. Abdou Kolley said while delivering the 2011 budget speech. He said: “Government has also stepped up measures to further enhance the performance of the financial sector, which is a key ingredient in creating conducive environment for the private sector.  For instance, CBG is in the process of establishing a more efficient payment system infrastructure, including a Real Time Gross Settlements System (RTGS), an automated Cheque clearing a system and a National Switch.  CBG is also working with Development Partners to acquire an Electronic Analysis and Surveillance (e-FASS) software, aimed at facilitating a faster and accurate submission of returns by banks electronically.” Government continues to recognize the private sector as a key partnership in the development process.  Moreover, with the prospects of a Program for Accelerated Growth and Employment (PAGE), the private sector has a role to play in the development of infrastructure and agriculture among others. The Finance Minister recalled that in the past government has offered several incentives to the business community but “these benefits have, in many instances, not translated into increased production and productivity, employment generation or meaningful reduction in prices”. “This one-sided partnership has to change if the ideals of a private sector led growth are to be realized,” he said. He noted that fiscal incentives are not meant to be permanent, but to facilitate the growth and development of a business and addressing specific development concerns. The government has committed itself to create an environment conducive to private sector growth, but it will be up to private sector operators to seize the opportunity so that together this country can move forward, he said. Economic growth and development of any nation depends to a large extent on a vibrant private sector. The time has come for the private sector to be more proactive, more enterprising and forward-looking and willing to invest with a long term perspective.

Central Bank to revoke some banking licenses

By Lamin Jahateh, The Gambian Banker, Banjul Six out of the fourteen banks in the country are at risk of having their banking licenses revoked by the Central Bank of The Gambia due to their inability to raise their minimum capital requirement to D150 million by December this year, as directed by the Central Bank of The Gambia. Two years ago, the Central Bank of The Gambia raised the minimum capital requirements of commercial banks to D150 million and D200 million to be observed by end December 2010 and 2012 respectively “in order to strengthen the country’s banking system”. Hitherto, the minimum capital requirement was pegged at D60 million. The Minister of Finance, Hon Abdou Kolley, while tabling the budget statement and economic policy financial year 2011 before the National Assembly in Banjul on Friday, said the latest assessment indicates that eight of the fourteen banks had already met the capital requirement of D150 million. “The six banks that are yet to meet the requirements are being rigorously monitored by the Central Bank of The Gambia,” he said. Although the Central Bank of The Gambia is optimistic that all banks would observe the capital requirement, the Finance Minister said: “The CBG is resolved not to grant request for forbearance if a bank fails to meet the requirement and to mitigate systemic risk that may arise from the revocation of a banking license, the CBG shall take the following actions: invoke section 45 of the Banking Act 2009 and take over the bank, thereafter the CBG may invoke Sections 48 and 51 of the Banking Act 2009 and place the institution in conservatorship to be sold, merged or restructured, and apply to the High Court for compulsory liquidation under Section 52 of the Banking Act as a last resort.” While announcing the increment of the minimum capital two years ago, the Central Bank says the action has been taken in view of its desire to deepen the financial sector and "in pursuance of the Gambia’s Vision 2020 aim of transforming the country into a financial centre" Thisday, a Nigerian newspaper has reported that the Managing Director of GTBank said the new capital base had increased the challenges of banks operating in the country. Mr Lekan Sanusi said only the creative financial institutions were likely to survive the industry competition and deliver returns commensurate to the expanded capital base. The Gambia, which used to be serviced by less than four commercial banks until a few years ago, has in recent times been affected by the phenomenon of an upsurge in the number of banks registered here, mainly from Nigeria. GTBank MD said the Gambia could only take a certain number of banks. He was quoted as saying: "But do we really need as many as 14 banks in a relatively small country like The Gambia? If you divide the number of banks in this country by the population of about 1.7 million, you have an average of 100,000 people per bank. Revenue is going down. What I know is that in the long run, people will count their numbers. At the end of the 2009 financial year, the Gambia’s banking industry recorded total loss of about 45 million Dalasis. Ten of the banks declared losses.