Long route to uniting Africa through trade

[Aljazeera]  African states should aim for increased continental trade, but more political and economic stability is needed first.

    Many African countries' main exports are raw goods like cocoa and cotton, not manufactured products     [EPA]

Greater African unity has long been a cherished but elusive goal.

The recently completed 19th African Union Summit has again given a renewed impetus to establishing closer economic and political ties among the continent's 54 states, based on a heightened appreciation of the need for more intra-regional trade. Hence the theme for this year's summit: "Boosting Intra-African Trade".

The situation is disappointing: Intra-African trade has remained consistently low compared to its trade with other continents.

According to the United Nations' Economic Commission for Africa, more than 80 per cent of Africa's exports are destined for outside markets, with the European Union and the United States accounting for more than 50 per cent of this amount. Asia and China in particular, are also important export markets for African countries.

At the same time, Africa imports more than 90 per cent of its goods from outside the continent, despite its rich resource endowments, which provide the potential to supply the continent's own import needs.

“Acute shortage” of skilled personnel at Gambia Gov’t health facilities

The Gambia’s health sector is currently handicapped due to acute shortage of skilled health personnel like doctors and nurses as well as laboratory technicians and scientists coupled with staff attrition and redeployment, this paper can reveal.

Fatim Badjie, Gambia's Minister of Health and Social Welfare

In this vein, maternal mortality rate is considered to be still high in the country, and neonatal mortality rate, estimated at 54 per 1000 live birth, is also high. 

A document of the Ministry of Health and Social Welfare says the key challenges hindering the country’s 

health sector also include inadequate budgetary allocation as the annual budget of the ministry is lower than the Abuja target, which states that 15% of the national budget should be allocated to the health sector.

Presented during the resource mobilization and investment forum for the Programme for Accelerated Growth and Employment (PAGE) held in early July, the document also indicates that there is inadequate staff accommodation in hospitals and other health facilities across the country, aggravated by lack of adequate information within the health sector due to weak health management information system. 

“Lack of funds to conduct the annual sentinel surveillance,” is also mentioned in the document as being among the key challenges of the ministry. 

The latest sentinel surveillance in The Gambia was done in 2008.  There is also lack of fund to conduct nationwide survey on HIV, and to do an assessment and refurbishment of pharmaceutical stores of the health facilities across the country. There is also lack of electricity and water supply in health facilities, the document states.

Banks deny claims of difficulty to access loan

The association of banks in The Gambia has denied claims that banks in the country are not giving out loans, making it difficult to finance projects that would create employment and the attendant economic developments.

Mr Mamoud Jagne

“It is not entirely accurate that banks are not giving out loans,” Mamour Jagne, executive secretary of Gambia Bankers Association, said in an exclusive interview with this paper. 

The interview was prompted by comments of some economic operators and private individuals that ‘it is very difficult or impossible to access finance” from any of the 13 banks in the country. 

“It is not true that there is a blanket ban on loan lending,” Mr Jagne emphasised though he noted that the banks are lending to customers on a very selective basis. 

Mr Jagne, himself an erudite banker, stated:  “The purpose of a bank is to mobilize excess fund from those who have it and lend it out to those who don’t have it.  It is in this process that banks make profit that they pay interest to the depositors and dividend to the shareholders.  It is therefore in the interest of the banks to lend out to the customers.” 

According to him, if banks are not lending out to the customers, then they most have a very good reason for doing so.  He said the low level of loan lending is on account of a number of reasons. 

YJAG gets new advisory board

Seated infront is members of the Board, standing behind them is the YJAG executive

The Young Journalists Association of The Gambia (YJAG) has recently inaugurated a new board of advisers that is to provide strategic guidance and a thoughtful advice for the association to help ensure that it remains true to its aims, mission and vision.

Held on 19^th July at the new secretariat of the Gambia Press Union in Fajara, the ceremony was graced by various media chiefs in the country, the executive director of the GPU, and a cross section of media practitioners.

The six-member board consists of Njundu Drammeh of Child Protection Alliance as the chairperson, Nguie Mboob-Janneh representative of the Female Lawyers Association, Sam Sarr of Foroyaa newspaper, Emil Touray, president of Gambia Press Union, Momodou Sabally of the Ministry of Finance and Economic Affairs, and Mrs Amie Bojang-Sissoho of Gamcotrap former chairperson of the board, and YJAG president, Modou Joof as secretary to the board.

Gambia’s economy shrinks by more than 3%

Latest figures from the Gambia Bureau of Statistics have indicated that the country’s economy shrunk by 3.3 per cent in 2011 due primarily to the contraction in the value-added of agriculture.

This was contained in a July 27 report of the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) of the Central Bank of The Gambia.

Speaking at the MPC meeting held on 27 July at the conference room of the Central Bank in Banjul, Governor Amadou Colley said the country’s economy is expected to grow by 9.7 per cent in 2013 premised on improved agriculture output and continued rebound of the tourism sector.  The growth of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) from one period to another is an indication of how healthy the country's economy is.

In the first quarter of 2012, the economy registered a deficit of D418.6 million, which is a modest improvement compared to the deficit of D469.50 million in the first half of 2011.

The country’s fiscal performance continues to be challenged by higher-than-projected expenditures unmatched by revenue performance of the economy. 

Total revenue and grants amounted to D3.2 billion of which D2.5 billion consist of domestic revenue, comprising tax and non-tax revenue. 

 However, total expenditure and net lending amounted to D3.6 billion.

Gambia Govt’s high debt burden impedes other development endeavours

The Gambia government’s high domestic debt burden, which continues to rise by the day and interest payment of which consumes more than 22% of the public revenues, is crowding out other public expenditures as there is no space to increase funding for employment creation, purchase drug for the hospitals, and other pressing national needs.

Mrs Songwe

“The debt dynamics today are dragging down in the economy and cold undermine growth in the future,” the World Bank regional director for The Gambia, Senegal, Cape Verde, Guinea Bissau, and Mauritania, Vera Songwe, has said.

Speaking at the recently ended (12 – 13 July) resource mobilization and investment for the Programme for Accelerated Growth and Employment (PAGE), Mrs Songwe said The Gambia’s debt has increased from 61.7 per cent in 2009 to 68.4 per cent in 2011.  Interest payments on debt are 22.5 per cent of public revenues. The World Bank director observed that if this trend continues, the government will have to forgo necessary infrastructure investments in energy and road construction.

Apart from reducing government’s power to channels fund to other areas, the high domestic borrowing is also pushing up interest rates and denying the private sector of the much needed fund for investment to generate employment.

More than 70% of households in Gambia at risk of iodine deficiency disorders

Child with goiter due IDD

About 77% of households in the country do not consume iodized salt hence are at risks of having Iodine Deficiency Disorders (IDDs) like goiter and mental retardation.  Women in this household are at risk of miscarriages and still birth.

Mathew Baldeh of UNICEF, on Monday during a two-seminar for media practitioners on IDDs, said only 23% of households in The Gambia consume iodized salt.  “This is serious,” he remarked, noting it has serious health and social consequences which are detrimental to the country’s development particularly to the attainment of some of the MDGs.

IDD is a real threat to child survival and development and children in The Gambia are amongst the most threatened. The risk of physical deformity, blindness, infections such as severe anemia and measles are greater when children do not have enough iodine in their bodies.  IDDs can be prevented by consuming iodised salt.

Dr John Egbuta, regional director for West and Central Africa at the International Council for the Control of Iodine Deficiency Disorders (ICCIDD), said The Gambia is at risk of iodine deficiency disorders and to remedy the situation “we need to make sure any salt consume in the country to be iodized.”

He said The Gambia’s key focused areas for salt iodization programme should be to improved quality of iodised salt, to have a quality control system, to improved consumer preference and acceptance of iodine salt, and to increase public awareness of important of iodized salt. 

Malang Fofana, programme manager of the Gambia National Nutrition Agency, said iodine is a micronutrient require by the body in small amount but extremely important for the development of the brain particularly in children and in pregnant women.