I personally welcome all the eminent scholars and distinguished personalities present, especially our honoured guests who travelled from afar to grace the occasion.
Convocation ceremonies hold a special place in the life of every university. They symbolise achievement, perseverance, sacrifice, and hope and are moments when we celebrate the triumph of knowledge, the discipline of learning, and the promise of a brighter future for young graduates. It is a special honour, therefore, to preside over this 18th Convocation Ceremony as Head of State and Chancellor of The University of The Gambia (UTG).
As the occasion is prompted by you, the 2025 graduating class, I wholeheartedly congratulate all of you. You worked diligently to reach this milestone, making your success a source of pride to the nation.
I similarly congratulate your parents, guardians, sponsors, lecturers, mentors, and all those whose support and sacrifice contributed to shape your success. We applaud all of you.
Holding this ceremony here, in Faraba Banta, is spectacularly meaningful, noting that this campus is increasingly becoming a national symbol of aspiration, strategic investment, and educational transformation. It is particularly gratifying to be here, following the inaugural ceremonies held here last December, 2025.
The UTG’s population growth and expansion of its physical, academic, and research capacities are remarkably reinforcing our vision of a comprehensive, future‑ready university campus, designed to serve for generations ahead.
I highly welcome the theme of this convocation, “Higher Education as a Strategic Bridge for Policy, Innovation, and Job Creation,” as timely, relevant, and aligned with our national development priorities.
There is ample evidence to show that my government places the highest priority on education; hence, in addition to private universities, we now have specialised public universities in the form of the Civil Service University (CSU), University of Applied Science, Engineering and Technology (USET), and the University of Education (UEG). All of them have been established to address our national priorities.
Over these ten years, the Gambia’s higher education sector has satisfactorily trained teachers, doctors, public health personnel, lawyers, engineers, and, for the first time in our nation’s history, the home‑grown dentists among the graduands today. Well done!
We are proud that the sector is contributing increasingly and significantly towards nurturing public servants to formulate and implement policy.
There is a growing and urgent need, however, to reposition higher education further as a central engine for evidence‑based policy‑making, a key driver of our much-needed industrialisation process, and an accelerator of socio‑economic and environmental transformation.
Our national priorities will be met only when we restructure higher education for the urgent transformation of human capital development and sustainable development.
By integrating research into national policy frameworks, universities can help shape the direction of the country. Our institutions must now strengthen the public sector and energise the private sector, support the creation of new industries and generate sustainable employment.
My government’s vision is that our institutions become a vital bridge between training and public policy. In particular, our universities must impose themselves as stronger Centres of Excellence for policy research, dialogue, and support.
I challenge the UTG and all our universities to take the lead in shaping public policy discourse, reducing our reliance on external expertise, and helping to solve our pressing national challenges.
The Gambia’s development ambitions demand strong institutions that generate knowledge to propel policy development, legislation, public programmes, national strategies, strategic decision‑making processes, and inclusive development.
This makes collaboration between Government, universities, industry, and development partners imperative. It also makes strengthening the relationship between the producers and end-users of knowledge inevitable.
The second bridge we must cross is innovation. We live in a rapidly changing world, shaped by technology, artificial intelligence, climate disruption, and shifting labour markets. Consequently, innovation is indispensable for national competitiveness, vital for economic diversification, and essential for social progress.
In this context, our universities must nurture graduates who are adequately creative, adaptable and solution‑driven. To support innovation, we need to strengthen the bridge between the universities and the private sector and move decisively toward co‑creation.
As a nation, we must continue to invest in research to drive innovation across all sectors. By this, I mean research that strengthens the entrepreneurial ecosystems within our higher education institutions.
Likewise, we equally have to create incubation and innovation hubs built on stronger university-industry partnerships that transform ideas from concept to application and result. My government will continue supporting this with clear policies, targeted investments, and strong partnerships.
As a government, we are already building the institutional foundation to support innovation. The establishment of the Tertiary and Higher Education Trust Fund, the National Research and Innovation Fund, and the Students’ Revolving Loan Scheme is a calculated strategy. It is designed to expand infrastructure, finance research, and enable innovation within our higher education system.
All these are components of a broader effort to position our universities as transformative agents of knowledge creation, innovation, and entrepreneurship.
This leads to the third bridge of job creation, and this is where the impact of the higher education system is ultimately tested.
Higher education should prepare graduates, not for employment alone, but for enterprise and job creation also. The capacity of the formal sector to absorb graduates remains limited. The current state of affairs demands a new breed of graduates capable of creating jobs and expanding opportunities for the youth.
Job creation cannot be left to government alone. It requires a dynamic ecosystem in which higher education institutions play a central role.
Again, I challenge the UTG and other in-country universities to prepare graduates for our labour market – graduates who can create new opportunities through innovation‑led entrepreneurship. From this perspective, higher education must not only prepare for the future of The Gambia, but actively build that future, beginning now.
As you celebrate today, remember that graduation does not mark the end of learning. It is the beginning of a new chapter, and your degrees must not only open doors for personal advancement; they must also inspire you to serve your communities and contribute meaningfully to national development.
I urge you to carry forward the values of excellence, humility, service, hard work, and innovation. Let your education be impactfully visible both on paper and in your communities. Be a generation that builds bridges, transforms ideas into action, and links education to national purpose.
As a government, we remain steadfast in our commitment to strengthening our higher education sector with the vision of building inclusive, resilient, innovative, and globally competitive institutions.
The development of the Faraba Banta Campus is part of that broader vision. It reflects our determination to provide world‑class facilities for teaching, learning, research, and innovation.
It also reflects our conviction that higher education is central to national development, social mobility, and economic transformation.
I commend the Ministry of Higher Education, Research, Science and Technology, the UTG Governing Council, Vice‑Chancellor, Management, faculty, staff, students, and all partners who continue to work tirelessly to advance this institution.
I acknowledge the invaluable contribution of our development partners and all those who have supported the development of this campus and the expansion of higher education opportunities in the country. As Chancellor, I reaffirm my government’s unwavering support for the UTG and, especially, positioning higher education as a strategic bridge for policy, innovation, and job creation.
In conclusion, let this convocation renew our shared commitment to building a university system that serves the present generation as well as all future generations.
May the University of The Gambia continue to flourish as a beacon of knowledge, innovation, and national service.
I thank you all.
