MUHAMMED S. BAH
The World Bank Board of Executive Directors approved on May 14, 2020, $30 million (about 1500 million dalasis) development policy grant to support The Gambia’s efforts to improve debt and public investment management.
According to an official statement from the World Bank, it is also meant to improve financial viability and service delivery in the energy and telecom sectors and enhance the transparency and governance framework of State-Owned Enterprises (SOEs).
”This first in a series of two programmatic Development Policy Operations support to The Gambia’s efforts to undertake fundamental reforms to improve fiscal management for better public service delivery,” said Elene Imnadze, World Bank Resident Representative.
This Development Policy Operation will ensure public investment projects are appraised as per National Development Plan priorities and support the adoption of a new procurement bill to eliminate the use of single-source procurement and tighten the emergency clause for its use.
The financing will also help enhance the financial and operational performance of the energy utility in order to provide cheaper, more reliable, and cleaner energy. Also, it will support the ring-fencing of the telecom infrastructure and restructuring of the SOEs in that sector to strengthen the digital economy.
“This operation will support the government in strengthening fiscal transparency and reducing fiscal risks and promote a governance framework to ensure the long-term sustainability of the SOE sector,” said Mehwish Ashraf, World Bank Country Economist, and co-Task Team Leader.
This first operation is aligned with the development priorities of the Government as reflected in the National Development Plan for 2018-2021 which identifies economic stabilization, growth stimulation, and structural transformation as key priorities for The Gambia.
