Economy, News

In Bid To Attract Investors, Gambia Creates Special Economic Zone

Barrow laying the foundation stone of a Special Economic Zone (SEZ)

(JollofNews) – In a bid to attract more domestic and foreign investors, Gambia’s Adama Barrow has Friday laid the foundation stone of a Special Economic Zone (SEZ) geared towards facilitating rapid economic growth through job creation.

“The country needs economic independence through employment and opportunities for wealth creation towards poverty eradication. Economic independence of our citizens would make our socio-political independence meaningful,” said President Barrow.
One year after Gambians voted out ex-dictator Yahya Jammeh, the Barrow administration has succeeded in restoring confidence between Gambia and its development partners.The World Bank (WB), International Monetary Fund (IMF), and other financial institutions have pledged support for the country’s economy, unveiling major projects in the pipeline.
The milestone project is part of activities marking the celebrations of the country’s 53rd year of independence. The SEZ is being spearheaded by Gambia Investment and Import Promotion Agency (GIEPA) with TAF Africa Homes Global Ltd.
He said since the tiny West African nation attained international sovereignty, generations have been working hard to improve their economic situation, making a name in the business sector of The Gambia, citing Mustapha Njie, the CEO of the construction company TAF as a living example.
“The principles of private sector led growth and our belief in the private sector as engine of economic growth will continue to be a fundamental national development pillar,” he said.
The Gambian leader reiterated his government’s commitment to continue carving out and adjusting to responsive policies and strategies to support greater private sector participation in the domestic economy.
The new regime inherited a dire economic situation following two decades of economic lethargy. The new SEZ is expected to promote economic growth and job creation.
“GIETAF Special Economic Zone, will entail the creation of a well-built modern state of the art Special Economic Zone. Its design embodies economic development using modern technology to boost industrial development, promote tourism and leisure in a real estate hub,” said President Barrow.
He went further to outline the main targets of the SEZ, saying  the project aims at achieving a balanced economic space that promotes trade and investment through industrial activities.  Such a modern Special Economic Zone focuses on export promotion, creates jobs, and integrate within its surroundings.
Gambia’s economic growth has been the centre of attention at national level as State’s coffers were emptied by former longtime ruler. But over these past months, there are signs that the country has entered into economic recovery.
He said the SEZ is in line with the strategies in our National Development Plan (2018-2021).
Barrow described the initiative as a’ great source of pride for The Gambia’, and made it clear that his government created the enabling policy and business environment.

20 Comments

  1. It is insanity to keep doing the same thing and expecting different results. Is it not? Investors will not come to Gambia. They don’t trust us with their money. GIEPA is a rogue organization, lead by people with questionable past and history of run ins with the law. Mr Barrow look behind you. The story is in that photo. Investors are not blind and certainly they are not stupid. Send Assan Faal back to Chicago to face investors who claimed he defrauded them. Send him back to family court, the child he abandoned need support. The outward appearance of a polished well spoken businessman is a lie. I have read the charges against this man. His file is longer than Denton bridge. Mr Barrow dismantle GIEPA. Sack Assan Faal. Put honest well meaning Gambians around you and investors will come.

  2. Public servants are some of the worst enemies of The Gambia!!

  3. And please, when putting out press releases give us a synopsis of Who, Why, Where and How for the object of keeping folks well informed.
    Enlightened Gambians shouldn’t be taken for a ride but should be accorded due respect on account of the resources that they can bring to bear in resuscitating the ailing economy.
    Most of the press releases and narratives amount to insults to our intelligence as was the case in the filthy Yaya Jammeh era. We are seeing that movie unfold all over again. So do something different in this new era for God’s sake!
    This is not about churning out distasteful propaganda but getting Gambians to buy into and SUBSCRIBE to a collective vision.
    Where President Adama Barrow cannot find well informed and decent people to bring on board to lead the ship of state, WE ARE NOT IN BUSINESS!!

  4. Well, I don’t know about the records of those behind this initiative, but I agree with Dr I. Sarr: spending money to lure investors is a waste of resources. We have done it for 53 years without much success and there’s no reason why we should expect different results this time round. It’s time to rethink our development model.

  5. I think as Gambia is rising from the most unimaginable position financially///for President Barrow to keep pushing out welcome signals is about the only and most positive initiatives he can do at this time/// The Gambia will rise again when it slowly moves back to good fiscal control. As for those he keeps close at this time////He needs to choose his advisors very carefully.

  6. Jollofnews 5th March 2018
    There is no possibility of a bourgeoise capitalist system blotted with CORRUPT, CORRUPTIBLE, INCOMPETENT, UNPATRIOTIC and SELFISH people to improve the livelihood of its people.
    When INEFFICIENT, UNQUALIFIED people take over and continue an archaic status quo, the whole system crumbles. This is the trend we are faced with the Barrow “pull and push” INEPT administration, a replica of the Ex-President Jawara administration.
    Dressed in bright attire, honouring the life-style of “mansolu”, while our devastated farmers still go hungry without receiving their money from the groundnut sales, these CORRUPT administrators continue to raise salaries, per diem emoluments and other fringe benefits for their Central Bank of The Gambia workers.
    While our children are still toiling to gather money for their secondary, college and tertiary institution bills, Barrow, Ousainou Darbo, Finance Minister Sanneh would sneak their children to the USA for schooling.
    While the farmers and teachers are crying for better living conditions, increased salaries, better earnings for market produce, the CORRUPT and PARTIAL Commission of Inquiries is housed in a lucrative and very expensive building at the cost of the taxpayers’ money.
    I leave you to read the attachment……!

  7. Gambia: Scoop:
    Fat Salary Pay Raise And Fringe Benefits Loot At The Central Bank!
    Freedom Newspaper March 4, 2018

    Amid rising inflation and economic hardship causing misery to Gambian consumers—especially low income earning civil servants, the Central Bank of The Gambia (CBG) has extended what it called fringe benefits and threefold pay raise for top management, middle cadre and junior staffers of the Bank, the Freedom Newspaper can report. In a letter dated January 31st, 2018, CBG Board Secretary Momodou B Mboge informed bank staffers that the decision to increase workers pay and fringe benefits was reached during a recent Board Meeting. He urged the CBG staffers to take note of the Board decision.
    Under the new pay raise regime, Central Bank Governors, Deputy Governors, Directors, management staff, junior staff, drivers, janitors, and gardeners will see a pay raise in their next pay slip.
    Governors per diem allowances have been increased from # 250 pounds to # 600 pounds each time they spend a night overseas representing the bank. Grade 12 and 13 workers at the bank will see a per diem increase from # 200 pounds to # 300 pounds each time they are away from the country.
    Here is a breakdown of the new per diem allowances at the CBG. Overseas students allowance and bereavement allowances have also been included in the document.

    The CBG has also increased transport, car, duty, and fuel allowances for its staffers. Top Managers of the bank including Governors also enjoy a significant percentage of fuel allowances. The Governor of the Bank has been allocated with maid and garner allowances at the expense of the CBG.
    Board Members will also enjoy a D46,000 dalasi sitting allowances. It doesn’t matter whether the Board sits or not; they will still be paid.
    “Central Bank of the Gambia Management and Board of Directors plundering and self allocating of ALL the bank’s profit margins taking it deeper into deficit operations from a surplus position of over D100 millions in May 2017 to whooping excess expenditure of D280 millions dalasi by the end of 2018,” said a financial analyst.
    “The internal top management and staff remuneration is so big and unimaginable that they try to hide the real figure in its board decision write up in the Administrative order dated 31st January 2018. Thus: Recurrent expenditure of D637 million – (minus) Projected Income of D357 million, result to a staff payment excess expenditure of D280 millions of dalasi for the year 2018. See documents attached,” the analyst added.
    Our financial analyst went further to question the justification of the recent fringe benefits extended to the CBG top executives and staffers. The increments are not reflected in the 2017, and 2018 fiscal budget. Hence, the analyst opines that the CBG might be operating in vacuum.
    “Now add the Capital expenditure amount such as cars and office supplies of D67 million dalasi to the D280 million above and you get a TOTAL operational expenditure in excess of the projected revenue of the Bank of a staggering D347 million dalasi over spending in 2018 which only GOD and the bankers know where this excess money will come from in their books.This is what you call a broad daylight robbery approved by the new Board of Directors of the Central Bank for the year 2018,” he alleged.
    With these exorbitant recurrent expenditure amounts, he went on, the top management and staff of the Central Bank are ruining the nation’s central bank coffers to total amount of D704 million dalasi just to keep their belly and pockets full in 2018.
    “ If this huge excess deficit expenditure situation occurs in the running of any of the private banks of the Gambia, the Central Bank will immediately step in and declares the bank bankrupt. They will put it under Central bank supervision for redressing purposes and sell it when its books are cleared from the RED Zone. This is exactly what happen to all past bankrupt private banks including the recent take over of MEGABANK formerly Ph.B. bank three years ago,” said the analyst.
    “It should be noted at this point that Megabank was already redressed from a deficit red zone of over D300 million to a profitable green zone of over D60 million by the former MD by May 2017 before being replaced by another retired central staff in June 2017. Words in the grape vine, has it that, the new central bank MD of Megabank took back the Megabank from the green profitable zone to a new deficit RED Zone within a span of one year and half of his appointment. However Megabank new accounts for 2017 to date are yet to be published to ascertain the real figures,” our analyst noted.
    NOTE:
    It is alleged by outsiders that the same huge remunerations allocation trend as occurred and documented in the Central Bank documents in over spending is also taking place in Megabank. Investigations should be carried out immediately to establish these facts.
    A bank vocation should not run at lost whether it is private bank or Central Bank.
    A government however can run with deficit operations but no Banks whether central or private should never operate on deficits.
    This is exactly what is taking place today with the new management of the Central Bank dragging the bank from a surplus account of over D100 million in May 2017 to a staggering deficit of D280 million by the end of 2018 just for management and staff salaries, benefits and per diem consumption.
    The IMF and the World Bank should immediately step in to arrest this broad day light robbery before its execution ends in the year 2018.
    This type of internal management corruption activities of Central Banks in connivance of its Board of Directors is one of the reasons why the CFA zone countries are reluctant to give up the Euro/France supervision of the CFA currency as it can lead to undue currency value fluctuations and inflations and interest rates manipulations as well as cooking of books just to cover up the internal fraud and over spending of the Central banks. The economy is thus the biggest victim of such malpractices and mismanagement of corrupts central bank officials.
    Going by the documents, review of Salaries and Fringe benefits of the Central Bank Governors and staff we simply center our analyses at the three governors.
    The Governor the first Deputy Governor and the second Deputy Governor will depict huge increases into their salaries and other benefits as follow.
    In addition to their basic pay salaries which is not captured in the documents attached the Governor and its two deputies get:
    Monthly Fuel allowance D9000 + D11250= D20250.
    Monthly Car Allowance D12740 + D14726= D27466.
    Monthly Responsibility Allowance…………..= D59750.
    Monthly Telephone Allowance…………………= D22000.
    Total monthly allowance———————–=D129.466.
    Now add the above total allowance to their unspecified monthly basic salary.
    Please note these allowances are not taxable income.
    Also add to the above amounts the allocated Per Diem allowances of UK. Pstlg. 600 per day of travel. It is noted that the Governor and its two deputies travel nothing less than 15 days a month giving themselves 600p X 15 days= 9000- UK pound Sterling pay month of travel equivalent to approximately D540.000- a month.
    In effect the Governor and his two deputies receive over D669.466- in a month from the bank.
    This monthly amount is three times the salary of President Adama Barrow, six times the salaries of Ministers, 12 times the salaries of Permanent Secretaries, 4 times the salaries of MDs of Public corporations and 3 times the salaries of Private sector Banks MDs.
    Now Gambia, are this new management of the Central Bank and its new Board of Directors not criminals rubbing the meager resources of the Bank?
    Please note that Yaya Jammeh used to steal from accounts that were fed by Gamtel Gateway, Grants received from third countries etc. But the new management of the Central Bank is eating ALL the revenues generated by the Bank and goes deeper to borrow existing monies in the banks books of the bank just to satisfy their monthly greedy stomach and pockets.
    There are other benefits that this write-up did not bother to touch on as the documents speak for it.
    These new managers and the new board of directors should be not only fired, but also taken to court to recover the looted funds of over D100 million dalasi surplus left in the coffers of the Bank by the old management in May 2017.
    If President Barrow, the Minister of Finance, the Minister of Justice and the Coalition government in general do not take IMMEDIATE action to redress this robbery, it simply means they are complicit in this high level economic crime in the making by the Central Bank bosses against the Gambian taxpayers, the multilateral and bilateral partners helping the Gambia.
    The local media should take up the story and publish the documents in the local newspapers and radios for widespread sensitization of the general public.
    Failing which, the local media is equally complicit in the economic crimes taking place in the country.

    • we have to view such contentious speculation with a very careful eye”.
      That’s an honourable last slot on your posting. That’s where I personally differ with the pre-judgement criteria of some contributors.
      Unless we have a full account of what went wrong, unless there is a genuine and unrefutable judgement of the case, impartial democrats like Babu just don’t jump into the ” pre-judgement bandwagon”.
      What a hypocrite! Quick to report on the article above but trying hard to bury the other story from the same source. What is left to be said not already said. May Almighty Allah save our people from the evil of men like Jammeh and his dire hard scumbags.

  8. Oh Oh! The Kankurang cheer leader is baaaaack!!
    Welcome back from the hiatus Scaly.
    What the reason for the hibernation? Went digging for ideas?
    :-))

  9. You know what…? I’d rather say, “welcome the landlord”.
    Mike, hope runnings are going good…

  10. 9 days in hospital Via a near death experience and a very slow recovery,,,,But I kept in touch via Jollof news/
    I went to bed on Christmas Eve and woke up with blood poisoning/near renal failure { only 8% of kidney function} and a cyst growing out of my stomach as large as a melon/ and lost 9 Kilo’s,,,,

    I confused the NHS for a while ? then came the snow,,,,,,

    But thanks for asking;am getting there,,,maybe by Summer,,,

    • Sorry to hear that Mr.Scales and best wishes for a full and speedy recovery.

    • Mike, it’s sad to learn about what you went through. My heart felt wishes to you for a total recovery. I’m sure you’re a very strong person. Keep strong and fighting.

    • Get well soon.That sounds terrible. Take it easy and wish you a very speedy recovery.

  11. Much appreciated/

  12. Mike,
    Best wishes and speedy recovery. We may differ but we all contribute. I always want to see you alive to enjoy your side of things.

  13. Jollofnews 6th March 2018
    Here we are, with a bunch of reactionary, unpatriotic elements trying to digress from the essential issues about our country. Why re-count the Ghanaian issue when the Ghanaian government received money for their dead and just BURIED the matter. Whether our APRC government was involved or not, the Ghanaians are no longer making a TIKI TIKI about it.
    Only the Barrow enablers/surrogates who want to detract us from the failure of this INEFFICIENNT, CORRUPT, TRIBALIST, SELFISH administration is trying to make mountain out of a molehill!
    Gambians are no longer interested in this matter. Prices are surging every day, armed banditry in broad day light is common, education bills are unaffordable, electricity and water outages/shortages are continuous, farmers have been waiting for almost two months to receive their groundnut sales money, fat per diem emoluments are allocated to senior officials, appointments are not made on qualification……..
    Go to my village in the URR and take issue about the Ghanaian deaths! They will kick your ass away and tell you that, they only want to make a more dignified living!
    What’s the hypocrisy behind the Ghanaian deaths?

  14. On March 6, 2018. Mr Barrow sacked Assan Faal. The CEO of GIEPA, a close associate of the VP. This man, this Assan Faal is toxic, and The President made the right decision. Mr Barrow should now go outside Gambia and recruit seasoned, HONEST and competent Gambian investment bankers and venture capitalist, with solid track record in the international business community to help deploy his economic blue print. There are 2 in NYC and 1 in London. Well done Sir.

  15. Welcome to the forum in good cheer Mike.
    You take good care of the aging body going forward.

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