The World Bank in The Gambia

The Gambia is a small, fragile country in West Africa. Stretching 450 km along the Gambia River, the country (10,689 square kilometers) is surrounded by Senegal, except for a 60-km Atlantic Ocean front. The country has a population of 2.4 million. With 176 people per square kilometer, it is one of the most densely populated countries in Africa. Most of the population (57%) is concentrated around urban and peri-urban centers. 

Political Context 

The Gambia is a multiparty republic. Under the 1997 constitution, the President is the head of state and government, and is elected by universal suffrage to a five-year term. The 2016 Presidential Election led to the end of the autocratic rule of former President Yahya Jammeh, who was in power from 1994 to 2017.

In 2018 the government established the Truth, Reconciliation and Reparations Commission (TRRC) to lay the ground for reconciliation in the country, restore trust and overcome the trauma of human rights violations. The TRRC final was disclosed in December 2021 with the government expected to present a white paper recommendation to the National Assembly within six months.

The recent presidential elections took place on December 4, 2021, and the incumbent President Adama Barrow was declared the winner by the Independent Electoral Commission (IEC) with 53.2 % of the vote and was inaugurated for a second term on January 19, 2022. 

Economic Overview 

Growth was robust at 6.2 % in 2019, supported by improving confidence and record tourist arrivals, with sound macroeconomic management helping to reduce the fiscal deficit, exit from debt distress, and increase international reserves closer to prudential levels. 

The COVID-19 crisis resulted in a contraction in growth by 0.2 % and in real GDP per capita by 3 % in 2020, reversing gains in poverty reduction. Since then, the economy has started to recover, estimated to have reached 5.6 % (2.6 % in per capita terms) in 2021. All sectors grew, as tourist arrivals were above-expectations and record-high remittances continued to support the construction and distributive trade sectors.

The poverty rate declined from 9.2 % in 2020 to 8.5 % in 2021, lifting over 10,000 people out of poverty, driven by the recovery in the agriculture labor market. However, the fiscal deficit doubled to 4.4 % of GDP as capital expenditure accelerated, mainly for locally funded infrastructure projects, and tax revenues and grants declined. Recurrent spending fell as pandemic-related support was withdrawn. Public debt-to-GDP is estimated to have declined to 83 % and the outlook is sustainable, but the risk of overall and external debt distress remains high as per the December 2021 joint WB/IMF Debt Sustainability Analysis.

Headline inflation started increasing since January 2021, driven by food price increases, which is undermining household food security, as well as by the gradual return of domestic demand. Inflation has reached 8.3 % y/y in February 2022.

The Gambia participated in the G20 Debt Service Suspension Initiative (DSSI) and received a relief of about $4 million in 2020 (0.2 % of GDP).  

Last Updated: Apr 19, 2022

The World Bank Group and the Government of the Gambia are currently working on a new Country Partnership Framework (CPF) to support development priorities through 2026. The CPF will be aligned with the Gambia’s National Development Plan (NDP).

COVID-19 Response

As of March 2022, the country had recorded 11,973 cases with 365 deaths and a crude case-fatality ratio of 3.1 %. The government intends to vaccinate 70 % of the population (1.68 million people), but as of March 13, 2022, only 13 % of the national target population (18 years +) are fully vaccinated. The Gambia has received vaccines from the COVAX facility and from the African COVID-19 Vaccine Acquisition Trust (AVAT) (financed by the World Bank).   

In April 2020, the WBG approved a $10 million COVID-19 Health Preparedness and Response Project (P173798) to strengthen the capacity of the national health system to prevent, detect, and treat COVID-19. Additional financing of $0.94 million from the Pandemic Emergency Financing Facility (PEF) was approved in January 2021. Additional Financing to the COVID-19 Vaccine Preparedness and Response Project (P176125) of $8 million to support the procurement and distribution of COVID-19 vaccines was approved on April 16, 2021. 

Last Updated: Apr 19, 2022

Energy and Water

The combined national and regional energy projects under supervision are over $250 million. the Gambia Electricity Restoration and Modernization Project (GERMP, P163568) was approved for $43 million in May 2018 with an additional $41 million in 2020.  The supporting regional projects include the OMVG Regional Interconnection Project (with $47 million World Bank financing out of a $86 million allocation) and the ECOWAS Regional Access Project ($66 million allocation for The Gambia).

This portfolio has enabled much-improved operational performance for National Water and Electric Company (NAWEC). Improved operational performance of NAWEC, led to a reduction in transmission and distribution losses from 28% in 2015 to 19% in 2021. In urban areas and large provincial

centers about 64,000 urban households are connected to NAWEC’s piped water systems. However, the service is intermittent with most areas in NAWEC’s coverage zone not receiving water for hours or days. The GERMP includes $14 million for the following activities: improvements in water quality at selected water treatment stations; rehabilitation of water storage tanks; civil works to connect 5,000 households to the network; energy efficiency measures; and a pilot to reduce physical and commercial water losses.

Social Protection

The nascent Social Protection System was a critical element of the COVID-19 response. The $30 million Social Safety Net Project (P167260) was restructured in June 2020 and $10 million was re-allocated to support a broader program of short-term cash transfers (Nafa Quick) during the COVID-19 containment period, which benefited 78,422 households in 30 rural districts for 4 months.

The regular Nafa Program is successfully underway. Currently, 2,770 households have been enrolled in three of the poorest districts as a pilot, and by February 2022, all beneficiaries had received six months of cash transfers. Using the data from the GamSR, the Nafa program is working on scaling up to reach 17 poor districts by June 2022.  The Gambia Social Registry (GamSR), which provides data on poor and non-poor households has completed data collection for 36 out of 43 districts in The Gambia. 

Health

The Gambia Essential Health Services Strengthening Project supports the 2021-2025 National Health Strategic Plan implementation. In addition to the $80 million Project financing, the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis, and Malaria (GFATM) co-financing (US$ 5 million) agreement was signed on December 23, 2021. The following key activities have been initiated:

• performance-based contracting of health facilities expanded nationally
• preparations underway for the rollout of the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS) Act
• constructions started in February 2022 for the national Emergency Treatment Centre Intensive Care Unit, the Emergency Observation and Treatment Centre, the Public Health Laboratory and Training Centre at Farato, the Blood Transfusion Centre, and Conference Centre.

Education

The Gambia is seeking to mitigate the negative impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on the education system, while continuing to move forward with their Education Sector Strategic Plan (ESSP) 2018-2030.

The Gambia Education Sector Support Program was approved on March 28, 2018. It was followed by an additional financing approved on June 10, 2021. The objective of this operation is to increase access to early childhood development and basic education and improve the quality of teaching and learning. It is expected to benefit 411,000 school-aged children. 

Agriculture

Gambia’s economy is heavily dependent on agriculture, contributing 17 % of GDP and 30–40 % of foreign exchange earnings from exports. The $40 million Gambia Inclusive and Resilient Agricultural Value Chains Development Project (P173070) was approved in November 2021. The objective is to promote four key priority agricultural value chains:

• rice (substituting for increasing imports)
• horticulture (vegetables and mangoes for urban centers and export)
• cashews (for domestic processing and export)
• poultry (for urban centers), in conjunction with maize for feed. 

Last Updated: Apr 19, 2022

Partnerships and Donor coordination 

In 2018, the Development Partners’ Group (DPG) revitalized its coordination efforts, particularly to support the Government in meeting NDP objectives. The DPG has six Thematic Working Groups based on The Gambia’s development needs and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Since the beginning of the pandemic, a primary focus of the DPG has been to coordinate support for the Government’s response to COVID-19.

On the economic front, the WBG and IMF have coordinated closely with the G20 and the Government on the country’s response to the macroeconomic shocks of the pandemic, including on fiscal relief provided by the Debt Service Suspension Initiative (DSSI).

In the energy sector, the World Bank is working together with European Commission, and European Investment Bank.  In the health sector, the WBG consults closely with UNOPS, WHO and UNICEF and UNDP. In the education sector, the World Bank collaborates closely with the Global Partnership for Education and UNICEF. The World Bank is also a leading partner on social protection, together with UNICEF, the UNDP, and the European Union.

Last Updated: Apr 19, 2022