By Assan Bah
The Minister of Finance and Economic Affairs, Seedy Keita, in partnership with the Resident Representative of the World Bank Group in the Gambia and the United Nations Resident Representative has on Wednesday, January 18th, 2023 engaged a conference of Ministers on the Turn Around Allocation (TAA) steering committee.
The conference was attended by various ministries such as the Ministries of Trade, Health, Interior, Agriculture, Basic and Secondary Education among others.
Delivering her opening remarks, Ms Feyi Boroffice, the World Bank Resident Representative said: “The steering committee provides a strategic vision for the work of the technical committee and oversight responsibility for the implementation and monitoring of the overall Gambia’s turnaround strategy.”
She said the TAA also provides resources for low income countries that benefit from their international development assistance and to countries facing different FDC to conflict environment violence. “These supplemental resources are provided in addition to a country’s normal performance-based allocation,” she said.
Ms Boroffice reiterated the World Bank’s commitment in supporting the Gambia through partnership framework to help accelerate the country’s transitional conflict and support the vision for sustainable, resilient and inclusive.
UN Resident Coordinator, Madam Sraphine Wakana, said the United Nations and the World Bank are committed to help countries in implementing the 2030 agenda and sustainable development guided by the Addis Ababa action agenda on financing development and the Paris agreement on climate change.
She said: “Its institution has clear mandate, strategies and programmes in place which draw on the strengths, capabilities and expertise to deliver on our responsibilities to our member states.”
The Minister of Finance and Economic Affairs said this is the first meeting of the Steering Committee since the elaboration and adoption of the TAA Strategy.
Minister Keita disclosed that the committee has registered significant strides in areas such as transitional justice, macroeconomic reforms and performance, stabilization of government finances, youth employment and the State-owned Enterprises (SoE) reforms.
He said the overarching objective of the TAA strategy is to strengthen institutions and systems in order to transition and build resilience with the aim of achieving good governance, inclusive growth and sustainable development; adding that it will consolidate gains achieved since 2017.
According to Keita, the government is convinced that continued effort is critical to sustain these gains and consolidate transition, the reconciliation processes, political stability and inclusive, broad-based growth for enhanced poverty reduction.
On November 3rd 2021, the government of the Gambia received the World Bank Management’s approval to access the IDA 19 Turn Around Allocation (TAA), allowing the Gambia to access a 125-percent top-up of its performance-based allocation of IDA resources.
