Abuja, Oct. 4, 2023: Gambian President Adama Barrow and African Development Bank(AfDB) Group Head, Dr Akinwumi Adesina have pledged to boost rice production and invest in the country’s vibrant youth and women entrepreneurs.
The bank on its website said the duo agreed when Gambian’s president received Adesina in a visit.
According to Gambian’s president, the Russian-Ukrainian war presents an opportunity for us to solve the problem of food security.
Barrow said there was no reason why Africans should not feed themselves.
He reiterated the need for the country to commercialise its rice production to produce enough rice for the people.
“Local production currently meets less than 20 per cent of the demand for rice, which is The Gambia’s staple food.
“ The AfDB Group is supporting the country’s efforts to produce 200,000 additional tons of paddy rice by 2028, reducing imports to zero.
“In addition to support for women and youth entrepreneurship in a country where around 65 per cent of the population is under the age of 25.
“Infrastructure, particularly road construction, is a critical area for the AfDB’s support,” Barrow said.
While expressing gratitude to AfDB for its support, Barrow urged for more of the bank’s support to enable the country expand its work.
For his part, the AfDB president described The Gambia as an important shareholder since it joined the institution in 1974.
The AfDB boss said:“Since we have been supporting The Gambia, we have provided about 540 million dollars in support.
“Currently, our support is quite significant. It is about 282 million dollars, which covers energy, inequality, agriculture, governance, water and sanitation, and support for youth and women.”
Adesina highlighted the importance of the Senegambia Bridge to cross-border trade, saying that the bridge opened in 2019.
He said: “ I told President Barrow how pleased I am with the Senegambia Bridge, which the AfDB financed at the cost of about 104 million dollars.
“It is a landmark piece of infrastructure. A beautiful bridge that has improved trade between Senegal and The Gambia and the rest of the West African region.
“The AfDB Group is helping to cushion The Gambia from some of the impacts of Russia’s war in Ukraine, including rising food insecurity and commodity prices.
“ It has provided about 19 million dollars to help the country produce more food, with the objective of achieving self-sufficiency in rice production.”
According to Adesina, support for electricity in The Gambia will bring power to about 1.3 million people.
He said the Bank Group’s Board had approved a new 21 million dollar project that would increase rural access to electricity, as well as several other projects.
Adesina said: “I am excited by the president’s determination to support the youth of The Gambia.
“And AfDB is ready and willing to support and finance the creation of what we call Youth Entrepreneurship Investment Banks.
“These will be new financial institutions that will support young Gambian entrepreneurs to thrive. And president Barrow was very receptive to this. He wants a lot of work done to support women in The Gambia.”
The AfDB boss said the bank was also supporting the establishment of its Affirmative Finance Action for Women in Africa (AFAWA) initiative in The Gambia.
Adesina said it would provide funding for financial institutions to lend money to women entrepreneurs at affordable rates.
“I commended the president Barrow’s efforts on infrastructure.
“He told me, there is no development without infrastructure, and I agree with him. He said the first, second, and third priorities for him are one and the same: infrastructure,”Adesina said.
AfDB is uniquely positioned to continue providing long-term concessional financing and advisory services to The Gambia.
The bank is also positioned to provide funds to enable the country accelerate structural transformation and address drivers of fragility. This makes it one of the country’s preferred development partners.
