The news that The Gambia will not host OIC 2019 raises more questions than answers. A government press release is being anxiously waited for details.
Many urban infrastructural projects were linked to hosting the OIC. The mightiest conference centre in the country is currently being constructed. The Chinese are responsible for the construction of the fifty-million-dollar edifice, amounting to 2.4 billion dalasis. The high-powered visit should have added value to compensate the investment envisaged for posting the conference. Hosting international conferences is very expensive, especially when it involves up to 65 heads of state and governments.
The offshoot of such expenditure is to have modern infrastructural facilities that could lift the face of urban centres. What is to happen next is what most analysts dare not venture to say. Government should come with such an analysis to enable the public to understand what has gone wrong after so much investment in institution building, staff and publicity.
