The World Bank in The Gambia

Stretching for 450 km along the Gambia river, the country is surrounded by Senegal, except for a 60-km Atlantic Ocean front. The country is one of the smallest in Africa, covering about 10.7 thousand square kilometers and having a population of 2.5 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, 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. Subsequent presidential elections took place on December 4, 2021. 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. The next presidential election is expected to take place in December 2026, though the exact dates have not yet been confirmed.

Economic Overview  

Economic growth is expected to accelerate to 5.6% (3.0% in per capita terms) in 2024, driven mainly by agriculture and services, which benefit from favorable rainfall and increased tourism. Industry decelerated following the completion of major infrastructure projects in preparation for the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) Summit. Private investment and consumption, supported by remittances, and public consumption, driven by the hosting of the OIC Summit, boosted growth on the demand side. Yearly inflation is expected to slow moderately to 14.4% in 2024, from 16.9% (year-on-year) in 2023, primarily driven by import prices. Extreme poverty (measured at the international poverty line of $2.15 in 2017 PPPs) is expected to decline to 15.5% in 2024. While inflation, especially for food prices, remains around 17.0% and continues to erode household purchasing power, soaring remittances are expected to contribute to higher private consumption and better household living standards. Growth is projected to average 5.6% (3.2% per capita) in 2025-2026, driven by increased broad-based economic growth. However, it is expected to decelerate in 2026 as a result of capital spending based fiscal consolidation.

The fiscal deficit is set to decrease to 2.6% of GDP in 2024, from 3.7% of GDP in 2023, supported by a moderate increase in domestic revenue and a decrease in capital spending. Public debt is expected to continue to decline to 69.3% of GDP in 2024 from 75.6% in 2023. Nevertheless, The Gambia remains at high risk of debt distress, as highlighted by the joint WB/IMF Debt Sustainability Analysis (DSA) under preparation.

The current account deficit (CAD) is projected to be almost halved to 4.5% of GDP in 2024, from 8.6% of GDP in 2023, thanks to increased tourism, higher remittances, and a decrease in investment-related imports. To curb persistently high inflation, the Central Bank of The Gambia (CBG) has maintained a tight monetary stance, keeping its policy rate high at 17% in August 2024, unchanged since August 2023. The banking industry continues to be stable, with healthy financial soundness indicators.  

Last Updated: Oct 16, 2024

The Country Partnership Framework (CPF) for the period of 2022-2026  is aligned with Gambia’s National Development Plan (NDP) and focuses on accelerating the country’s transition out of fragility and on supporting the Government’s vision of sustainable, resilient, and inclusive growth. Building on past and ongoing assistance, this partnership between the World Bank Group and The Gambia covers 3 priority areas: 

Strengthening Transparency, Accountability, and Effectiveness in Governance to support the efforts to improve the transparency, accountability, and effectiveness of the public administration and provide room in the government’s budget for productive investments in infrastructure and human capital.  

Enabling Inclusive and Resilient Private Sector Driven Job Creation to support the efforts to create an enabling business environment that fuels job creation by investing in infrastructure, strengthening the role of commercial agriculture, boosting the tourism sector, and increasing urban, coastal and climate resilience. 

Enhancing Human Capital investments to Develop a Productive Workforce to support the efforts to improve the quality of and access to essential healthcare, expand social protection services, enhance the quality of education, and explore ways to improve skills and employability of women and youth.  

The CPF is anchored on two cross-cutting principles: i) accelerate Cross-sectoral Digital Transformation; and ii) empower Women and Girls.

The Government of The Gambia accessed its first Turnaround Allocation (TAA) in November 2021, opening a window of opportunity to intensify engagement and support the country in pursuing major reforms, build resilience, and transition out of fragility. The TAA eligibility note was embedded in the FY22-FY26 Country Partnership Framework (CPF). While The Gambia has already benefited from its third year, eligibility was reconfirmed for FY25 to consolidate ongoing reforms. The FY24 annual review confirms the Government’s commitment to pursue its reform agenda and concludes that the turnaround path in The Gambia remains positive. For three years, the TAA has provided The Gambia with critical financing to support the country partnership framework, bringing the allocation (for the two years) to US$253.7 million for IDA20, more than double what it would have been without the TAA. 

Last Updated: Oct 16, 2024

Energy and Water

The combined national and regional energy projects under supervision are worth over $200 million. The Gambia Electricity Restoration and Modernization Project (GERMP, P163568) was approved for $43 million in May 2018 with additional financing of $41 million approved in 2020.  Complementary 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 and financial performance for the National Water and Electric Company (NAWEC).

Social Protection

The Nafa program, as part of the RISE project, has resumed cash payments to 17,000 extremely poor households across 17 districts. These payments extend the initial 18 months of transfers done under the Social Safety Net Project (SSNP – P167260) to complete the expected 36 months of cash transfers and Social and Behavioral Change Communication (SBCC) activities. The fieldwork for the second phase of the impact evaluation, which assesses the residual effects of the cash transfers 12 months after the initial transfers, has been completed. Furthermore, support for economic inclusion for both Nafa beneficiaries and non-beneficiaries is planned as part of a graduation process. To inform this initiative, the Department of Community Development is conducting an in-depth analytical study that will help shape The Gambia’s economic inclusion model.

The World Bank Group (WBG) is supporting the government in strengthening the legal foundation and implementation framework of the national social protection system. The WBG has assisted the National Social Protection Secretariat in expanding The Gambia Social Registry to achieve full national coverage and its efforts to enhance the registry's interoperability. Additionally, the WBG has provided technical assistance to the Secretariat in drafting the National Social Protection Regulations.

Health

The Gambia Essential Health Services Strengthening Project (P173287) ($30 million) approved in October 2020, along with the first Additional Financing of $50 million approved in November 2021, Second Additional Financing of $8.83 million approved in July 2023, and third Additional Financing of $35 million approved in June 2024, aims to improve the quality and utilization of essential health services and strengthen the national system for public health preparedness.

Notable activities the project has supported include:

• The national expansion of performance-based financing of health facilities;
• The establishment of the national health insurance authority for the rollout of the National Health Insurance Scheme;
• Revamping of the postgraduate medical training program for Gambian doctors;
• Establishing for the first time Bachelor of Sciences (BSc) degree programs for Nurse Anesthesia and for Midwifery, and postgraduate diploma nurse programs for Anesthesia, Midwifery, Pediatrics and Perioperative Nursing; and a clinical simulation laboratory for nursing education;
• Sponsored 23 laboratory technicians to obtain a bachelor’s degree in laboratory in December 2022;
• Establishing an electronic civil registration and vital statistics system;
• Mass birth registration and national health insurance registration from August 1, 2022, to February 28, 2023. Over 1.1 million people were registered;
• Preparations underway for conducting the World Health Organization (WHO) STEPwise Approach to NCD Risk Factor Surveillance (STEPS) survey;
• Supported the procurement of a mobile cinema truck (the first of its kind in The Gambia);
• The ongoing construction and equipping, at Farato, of the national emergency treatment center intensive care unit;
• Designs completed and renovation underway for dilapidated asbestos-containing health facilities;
• Renovation underway for X-ray rooms in five hospitals;
• The MOH is embarking on the digitalization of the health sector with establishing health information systems that are interoperable with the existing District Health Information Software 2 (DHIS2).

Education

The World Bank is supporting the Ministry of Basic and Secondary Education (MoBSE) in improving foundational learning and strengthen education management. The Gambia Resilience, Inclusion, Skills, and Equity (RISE) Project addresses critical gaps in literacy and numeracy among early-grade students and is expected to benefit over 216,000 students, significantly enhancing the country’s education quality.

In post-secondary education, in collaboration with the Ministry of Higher Education, Research, Science, and Technology (MoHERST), the RISE Project is designed to strengthen Technical Vocational Education and Training (TVET) through the establishment of two TVET Centers of Excellence and a newly established Skills, Innovation, and Entrepreneurship Fund, which will provide grants, scholarships, and business start-up support to over 4,000 beneficiaries, half of whom will be women.

Agriculture

The 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), approved in November, 2021, and effective as of March 14, 2022, promotes the development of four key priority agricultural value chains: (i) rice (substituting for increasing imports); (ii) horticulture (vegetables and mangoes for urban centers and export); (iii) cashews (for domestic processing and export); and (iv) poultry (for urban centers), in conjunction with maize for feed.

Tourism 

The Tourism Diversification and Resilience (TDR) project is to support the diversification and climate resilience of the tourism sector at selected destinations.

The project comprises four components, including:

• Component 1, “Policy Framework and MSME Participation,” which represents approximately one-fifth of the project, aims to address key challenges in The Gambia's tourism sector to foster sustainable and inclusive growth.
• Component 2, the largest in terms of budget, accounting for just under three-quarters of the project’s budget, focuses on strengthening the tourism sector's climate resilience through infrastructure support and diversification efforts.

Last Updated: Oct 16, 2024

Partnerships and Donor coordination 

The World Bank Gambia Country team works closely with Development Partners in the country and is a member of the Development Partners’ Group (DPG). The DPG has six Thematic Working Groups based on The Gambia’s development needs and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

On the economic front, the World Bank Group and the IMF have coordinated closely with the G20 and the Government on the country’s response to the macroeconomic shocks of the pandemic and the spillover impacts of the Ukraine war, including on fiscal relief provided by the Debt Service Suspension Initiative (DSSI). In the energy sector, the World Bank is working together with the European Union and the European Investment Bank. In the health sector, it consults closely with UNOPS, the Global Fund, WHO, 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 in social protection, together with UNICEF, WFP, and the European Union. 

Last Updated: Oct 17, 2024