The Cement Importers and Agents Association of The Gambia said the guild “is profoundly grateful and appreciative” of the Gambia government’s temporal removal of the D180 cement levy.
The Barrow administration announced last December that it was lifting its D180 levy on a bag of cement, albeit temporarily.
It could be recalled that the government sometime in 2025 increased the levy on a bag of imported cement six-fold. Cement scarcities and price hikes were hallmarks of this government tariff policy.
The Cement Importers and Agents Association of The Gambia said the government’s policy reversal in December has significantly eased the pressures on the cement market as prices have stabilized while availability and affordability were guaranteed.
The Gambian population has not been making any noise about cement when the tariff was removed.
For the cement importers and agents of The Gambia, this was largely due to their involvement.
“We, therefore, thank the President, the trade minister and all those that ensured the D30 levy on a bag of cement was restored,” the association stated.
The local cement importers and agents could be justified in their thinking that their involvement has indeed largely contributed to the stability in the cement market in the past three months if the remarks that one Banjul elder made during the Banjul Muslim Elders’ Koriteh meeting with President Barrow at the Presidency could be any guide.
“For the past few weeks, we have not been hearing any noise about the cement issue and we wish the President would sustain the status quo,” the Banjul elder told President Barrow.
The President in response pointed out that efforts were underway to ensure the country’s cement demands were met, citing Jah Oil’s initiative to construct a re-bagging plant in the North Bank Region.
Despite the lack of statistical data, many believed that the liberalization of the cement market in January and February was the factor for the stability in the cement market.
Cement prices have started to shoot up again following the re-imposition of the D180 cement levy.
