Fuel-wood energy threatens Gambia’s forest cover

Heavy reliance on the forest cover for fuel-wood (firewood and charcoal) continues to destroy The Gambia’s forest cover.

A report by the National Planning Commission says the over-reliance of the major urban centres on fuel-wood is destroying the country’s forest cover, causing deforestation and environmental degradation.

Consequences of deforestation

Continuous cutting down of trees for fuel-wood is contributing to desertification and low food production in the country and this could lead to increased hunger and poverty.

The report further states that valuable trees are fading away in The Gambia which can be used for medical purposes.

Rapid loss of forest

According to UN Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO), the forest zone of The Gambia is 48 per cent of the country’s land area.  But from 1990 to 2010, the country lost an average of 1,900 hectares per year which is 3% of the forest cover due to fuel wood consumption.

Briquettes as an alternative

Lenja Guenther, the project coordinator at Green Tech, an environmental solutions company, said the use of renewable energy like briquettes can be a suitable solution to the threats fuel-wood consumption is posing on The Gambia’s forest cover.

Groundnut shells can be used as briquettes to substitute firewood and charcoal, she said.

Gambia Speelt Mee donates classroom furniture to Aunty Dorricing’s Nursery school

A Dutch foundation, ‘Gambia Speelt Mee’, has donated sets of tables and benches to Aunty Dorricing’s International Nursery School in Brufut Ghana Town.  The handing over ceremony of the furniture was held at the school’s ground on Monday.

The foundation donated 36 set of tables and benches 24 of which are sponsored by Madam Therese Min, the wife of the initiator Gambia Speelt Mee, Mr Bert Min.  The rest, 12, was sponsored by A.D.I. Funds for Schools, a UK based charity organisation established to support Aunty Dorricing’s Nursery School.

Each of the donated tables and benches can be used by three pupils.  Initially, the pupils of the nursery school used to sit on empty crates and some dilapidated benches – without tables. 

Speaking at the handing over ceremony, the chairperson of the ceremony, Susana Baiden, said the school teachers and the pupils welcomed the support as it will contribute to the progress of the school.   She noted that the furniture will further enhance the quality of education being delivered by the school. 

“Now, we are assured that more children will be comfortably seated to pay attention to lesson,” she stated. 

Mrs Baiden told Mr and Mrs Min that the pupils of the nursery school see them as great providers for putting smiles on their faces. 

The principal of Aunty Dorricing’s International Nursery School, Mr Alexander Mensah, stressed that he is so pleased to receive the furniture because the pupils have not been sitting on good furniture for the past four years.  “So I am really honoured by this gesture,” he said. 

The school started operations in 2009/2010 academic year and since then none of the six classrooms in the school have good seats.  

The school principal said, before now, the pupils used to sit on empty crates.  Then the school later got some carpenters to help with some temporary benches but even those benches are dilapidated now. 

“So when Bert visited the school during the last academic year to install the playgrounds equipments – three swings - he was touched to see the children sitting on empty crates to attend lesson,” Mr Mensah said.  “This is why when he went back to Holland, he talked to his wife to see what they can do and thank God the wife decided to sponsor the school with some tables and benches through the foundation – Gambia Speelt Mee.”

Bert Min, initiator of Gambia Speelt Mee, said he is very pleased that his foundation is helping the pupils with the essentials that they need to attend lesson comfortably. 

He said initially, he donated the school and other schools with playground equipment because he did not know that the pupils do not even have the essentials classroom furniture.    

Gambia Central Bank to reduce money supply in the economy

To control price stability and reduce inflation

The Central Bank of The Gambia (CBG) has issued a directive raising the amount of money that commercial banks in the country have to hold as reserve - amount of cash that they should not loan out to customers. 

Governor Amadou Kolley of the Central Bank

The Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) of the CBG has raised the reserve requirement of commercial banks by two percentage points to 12 per cent, a press release from the Bank on Monday stated.  

 
The higher the reserve requirement is set, the less cash banks will have to loan out, leading to lower money in circulation.

The rationale behind this impromptu decision is to withdraw excess Dalasi liquidity out of the economy and thus help preserve price stability, the release affirmed. 

This is one of the additional measures the CBG has taken to restore stability and transparency in the foreign exchange market.

The decision follows a recent decision of the MPC, early this month, when it increased the policy rate by two percentage points to 14 per cent.

The measure was intended to enhance the attractiveness of Dalasi assets and to dampen inflationary pressures.

 
At that time, the MPC also indicated that it would closely monitor developments as well as take additional measures it deemed absolutely necessary.

According to the press release, the MPC in its monitoring has observed that activities in the foreign exchange market continue to exert pressure on the change rate of the Dalasi. 

Such activities like disorderly market conditions, characterised by high exchange rate volatility and wide bid-offer spreads, create inflationary pressure and stifle economic growth

IMF allocates $2m to Gambia for poverty reduction

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has approved the disbursement of US$2.3 million to The Gambia government to support programmes and structural reforms necessary to reduce the high rate of poverty and boost economic growth in the country.

 

The disbursement is following the IMF executive board’s completion of the first review of the government’s economic performance under a programme supported by the Extended Credit Facility (ECF) arrangement, according to a press release from the IMF-Gambia office on Thursday.

 

This last disbursement makes the total disbursements under the arrangement to about US$16.2 million.  

 

In May 2012, the executive board of the IMF approved a three-year ECF arrangement with an amount equivalent to about US$28.3 million for The Gambia to support the government's economic programme.

 

Economy still recovering

 

“The Gambian economy is still recovering from the severe drought of 2011,” Naoyuki Shinohara, deputy managing director and acting-chair of the IMF, said following the Board’s discussion of The Gambia.

 

The government’s policies and the support of the international donor community played an important role in enabling the recovery in agriculture to take hold, he noted.

 

However, he said there are downside risks related to The Gambia’s economic recovery such as the high domestic debt burden, weaknesses in the balance of payments, and inflationary pressures.

 

The domestic debt of the government increased to D11.3 billion, as at end-March 2013.

 

“High public indebtedness continues to pose risks to macroeconomic stability and significant costs to the budget,” Mr Shinohara affirmed.

 

Dutch couple renovates Batokunku Nursery School in Gambia

Front view of the new roof
After it is repaired

Géke Lagerburg and her husband Simon, both from Holland, have renovated the roof of Batokunku Nursery School which was in a very dilapidated condition.

The couple changed the entire roofing - the timber and corrugates - of the building which consists of two classrooms and the headmistress’s office.  The timbers of the previous roof were all eaten by terminates and the corrugate was very rusty.

The officials of the school said the condition of roof was such that if not refurbish, the government was going to close it down. That aside, if the rainy season meets the roof in such a bad state, small wind can blow the entire roof off or even without that when it rains, the corrugates leak like a sieve.

Inside of the new roof

It was because of the dire situation of the school that one of the teachers, Momodou Dambelle, has decided to prepare a donation paper to go to the hotel areas to look for sponsor who can come to the school’s aid.

It was in this process that Mr Dambelle met the Dutch couple, who were in the country for tourism, vacation.

Front view of the school
Before it is repaired

“When I show them the paper, they said they want to see the school for themselves,” Dambelle said.  “So we had an appointment for them to come to the school and they came to the school on the appointed day.”

He said many people, tourists, have promised to come to the school to give a helping hand but they never came.

“So, when they came here, they asked us what we want, the help we want,” the headmistress of the nursery school, Jalika Kassama, said.  “We told them that our urgent need is to help us make the roof.  Roofing is our headache now.  If the roof is not made, the children are going to suffer before the closing of school for summer holiday.”

Inside of the old roof

She said the couple then promised that they will do all they can to help the school to renovate the roof.  According to the headmistress, the couple also promised that if the roofing is successfully completed then they may give the school other relevant help needed.

In fulfilment of their promise, the couple sent in the money for the renovation of the roof through their contact in The Gambia, Amadou Demba. 

Now the work is completed, the school is having a new roof now. 

Baboucarr Jatta, a senior teacher at the school, said the help of the couple came at a very good time.

All the officials of the school thanked the couple for their “timely intervention” for making the school environment conducive for learning, once again.

Amadou Demba, who was the one representing the couple in the country, said he is happy because the entire process of the renovation was very successful.

“Also, I am very happy because though I am not a native of Batokunku, I see that the project is not helping only the natives of Batokunku but the whole Gambia,” he said.

He thanked the teachers and the carpenter for their cooperation during the work.

The Dutch couple pose with the teachers and the pupils of 
Batokunku Nursery School 

The sponsors, the Dutch couple said they supported the nursery school because during their visit to the school they have seen that the roof was in a poor condition. 

They also said during their visit they observed that the teachers are very kind and they really love the little children.

The duo said the teachers believe the kids are the future of The Gambia.

 

In this same vein, they - the couple – noted that whatever they do for the school, for the kids they are doing it for the future of The Gambia.

Now that the first engagement of the couple with the school is finished, they said they will discuss with the school officials to know what is most important to do for the school next.

However, the couple from Holland said now their plan is to involve the community in what they doing with the school so that the community can feel responsible for their own school.

Inflation increases as Gambian Dalasi loses value

Inflation - the rate at which the prices of goods and services increase, is forecasted to have increased more than the target of 5 per cent in The Gambia. 

This is primarily because the national currency, the Dalasi, continues to weaken in value against all major international currencies, the Central Bank Governor has said.

The Central Bank Governor made this remark on Monday during the opening ceremony of the ‘regional course on fundamentals of macro-economic analysis’. 

The weeklong training course organized by the West African Institute for Financial and Economic Management (WAIFEM) underway in Banjul, is being attended by economists from central banks in the ECOWAS sub-region and other financial institutions. 

The Dalasi has depreciated against the British Pound by 12.62 per cent, the US dollar by 11.87 per cent and the Euro by 12 per cent. 

Governor Amadou Colley said in view of this unforeseen circumstance, the Central Bank of The Gambia (CBG) would therefore continue to implement prudent monetary policy critical to maintaining low, stable and predictable rate of inflation.

Among these prudent monetary policies the Bank is expected to undertake is price stability so as to promote economic growth by reducing uncertainty and preventing arbitrary redistribution of wealth.

The CBG Governor said in view of the uncertain economic environment, policy actions should be indicated by the prevailing economic circumstances of the country.

WAIFEM equips West African economists for uncertain future

Economists from central banks and other financial institutions in West Africa are being train to reinforce their understanding on the working of the economy. 

The weeklong training, organised by the West African Institute for Financial and Economic Management (WAIFEM), is to prepare the economists to appropriately intervene in any uncertain economic environment.

The regional course on the fundamentals of macroeconomic analysis started on Monday in Banjul.

Speaking on the occasion, the Director General of WAIFEM, Prof Akpan H. Ekpo, said recent global financial crisis has raised serious concern about the need to develop adequate manpower base among institutions charged with managing the economy.

“It could be seen from the crisis that countries with weak macroeconomic fundamentals were more vulnerable to the propagation of the financial crisis,” he stated.

Prof Ekpo explained that the regional course seeks to offer the participants with the requisite theoretical and practical background that will broaden and deepen their knowledge and analytical skills on macroeconomic management.

The course has been designed to cover a number of key macroeconomic topics such as basic macroeconomic framework for policy analysis, openness in goods and financial analysis, the balance of payment and exchange rates, the interest rate and the exchange rate, the foreign exchange market, introduction to financial programming, and interrelations among macroeconomic accounts.