Dear Editor,
He who pays the piper, calls the tune, we are reminded. We are at that moment when money from the Bretton Woods Institutions, the World Bank Group (WBG) in particular, is piping away national land into foreign design and control. Land for the commons, which we have fought and died for in The Gambia and elsewhere across generations, must be designed, managed and paid for through local money and talent. As Madiba Mandela has taught us, “It’s always impossible, until it is done.”
Local money
From the routine press release of the Central Bank’s Monetary Policy Committee (MPC), 26th February, 2026, we read: “The banking sector remains stable and resilient, … total customer deposits, which continue to be the main source of liquidity for banks, increased by 25.6 percent to D83.1 billion (43.2 percent of GDP [Gross Domestic Product]) in 2025.”Close to D100 billion, if other financial institutions and credit unions are included. The Gambia Revenue Authority (GRA) collected or targets a collection approaching D30 billion. Between private and public money, is there no local capacity to finance a sovereign, digital land system?
Local and diaspora talent
During the broad-based consultations on the National Land Policy, the importance of local content was echoed, including in the design and deployment of a digital system. This talent pool is private, public and available in the learning institutions here, and in the diaspora. The latter, though disenfranchised, is a known pillar of the socio-economy, through remittances and other contributions. From the MPC: “… private remittance inflows reached $872.1 million in 2025,” an estimated value of D63 billion, comparable to 33 percent or one-third of GDP, which is the estimated total value of goods and services in a given year; or double-plus GRA’s collection.
However, the risk of digital exclusion is real, without local money. And to help address the risk of long-term failure, a strategy of hybrid closed-and-open sources of technology is needed. That is, for cost efficiency and community support.For example, the challenges and solutions experienced with the continuous issuance of identity cards, and the digital management of the GRA national tax register are fresh reminders. Free-of-charge, or open-source, digital tools are available, supplemented with sustainable costs from closed, or propriety, sources. Digital systems, including for land assets or financial services are being deployed on Linus or Blockchain technology platforms, for example. Health and education data, as well as a geographic informationsystem for location referencing, are all being managed with the help of thissame pool, or consortium, of diverse local talent.
Political decision?
The technical evaluators have assessed, and confirmed, the supposed incapacity of local money and talent. It may well be so, by designed criteria or historical bias. But we are in a democratic setting, on the path of an electoral cycle, for a mandate of the people. We shall manage our land asset,with our own design, and own money. The political decision is to trigger system change on the land issue at this moment, or when the balance of forces so determine. The WBG can reallocate its resources elsewhere, if it so wishes, given this sovereign objection.
Rather, the WBG-West Africa Coastal Areas (WACA) program should be aligned with the Economic Community of West African States (Ecowas) and its sub-regional development bank, to avoid costly duplication and micro-management. The Trans-Gambia bridge, for example, was built with the support of the regional bank, the African Development Bank (AfDB).
The shareholders working together to implement the National Land Policy have a strategic task to protect the land for the commons, anchored on local talent, with own money. In spirit, and indeed, that does not exclude outside solidarity, as it is said in Wolof, “Ndimbal defa feka loho borom”.
As Mr Dave Manneh’s eloquent and recognized contributions also remind us, justice takes center-stage, prior consent required in land expropriation, and fair compensation mandatory. Thus, securing land rights now, and in the future, affirms the call for system change, expressed in the design of a sovereign, digital land system by us, and paid for by us. That is, with the bonus system that serves other talented, working people. It’s a political choice.
Mr Sajo Jallow
