By Olimatou Coker
The Centre for Budget and Macroeconomic Transparency (CBMT) recently convened journalists at Tango Hall for a dialogue aimed at sharpening media scrutiny of The Gambia’s public development projects and accelerating transparency and accountability across the budget cycle.
The session followed a year of CBMT research into Parliament-approved development projects implemented by line ministries in the energy, water, agriculture and broader economic sectors, with the organisation presenting key findings it says the public needs to see.
Lamin Dibba, Executive Director of CBMT, defined public development projects as investments intended to expand and upgrade national infrastructure—power, water, agriculture, fisheries, and economic infrastructure among others—and warned that the execution and financing of these projects are falling far short of what Parliament approves each year.
According to Dibba, since 2024, the National Assembly has approved more than 90 development projects annually, including some with single-year allocations exceeding a billion.
However, Dibba stressed that these appropriations are estimates—projections contingent on external financing—and that actual funding delivered bears little resemblance to the headline figures.
“Budget reports show that since 2020, less than 30% of the development budget is realised each year,” he said.
“If the development budget is approved at, say, 20 billion, under 30% is actually delivered. That gap exists because our development is not owned or funded by us; more than 70% of our development budget relies on foreign aid and external borrowing. When those flows fall short, our projects stall.”
Dibba noted that domestic resources raised by government are heavily absorbed by the recurrent budget—wages, goods and services, and operational costs—with only a small fraction left for development spending.
“Around 11–12% of our local funds are allocated to development in 2026,” he said. “The rest is expected from partners. That dependence leaves us exposed.”
He minced no words about the consequences. “The Gambia’s development is in crisis,” he lamented. “Our energy sector is in crisis. Our food and agriculture sectors are in crisis. Fisheries and the broader productive economy are in crisis. Congestion persists even as we ‘develop.’ Every macroeconomic indicator we look at is troubling—growth, inflation, and more. Without transparent, sustainable development financing and consistent execution, we will not turn these indicators around.”
CBMT’s urged the media to adopt a watchdog posture and follow the money from approval to execution. The organization urged journalists to: Track the gap between approved development budgets, actual releases, and expenditures by project and ministry, ask for cash plans, disbursement schedules, and explanations for variance when releases lag behind approvals, compare donor commitments to actual disbursements and identify projects at risk due to financing shortfalls, monitor procurement timelines, contract awards, and milestone delivery to spot delays and cost overruns early and use access-to-information requests and official budget documents to corroborate statements and figures.
“We must scrutinise every dalasi directed to development and demand clear, consistent reporting,” Dibba said, calling for a culture of disclosure within ministries and stronger legislative oversight. He argued that routine publication of project-level data—allocations, releases, contracts, milestones, and audited expenditures—would allow citizens and Parliament to judge performance objectively and hold institutions to account.
“Through proper, sustained, and strategic development, we can improve macroeconomic outcomes—growth, inflation, and employment,” he added. “But that requires honesty in budgeting, discipline in execution, and vigilance from the media and citizens alike. Otherwise, we normalize underperformance and drift.”
Dibba closed by urging journalists to keep a “keen eye” on development financing and outcomes, reminding them that persistent, evidence-based reporting can shift incentives toward transparency and delivery. “It is up to citizens—working through the media and civil society—to insist on strict accountability. Without it, we are in serious trouble.”
