By Omar Bah
The president of the Association of Forex Licensed Bureaus (Alfob), Mamadou Jallow, has dismissed claims by the leader of the National Convention Party (NCP) published in this paper on Friday as “misleading and inaccurate”.
Jallow said the NCP leader Abubacarr Kinteh’s claims that the foreign exchange rate in The Gambia is skyrocketing all the time because of too many unregulated forex bureaus is “unfounded”.
“This is false. It shows that he does not understand what the foreign exchange bureaus do,” Jallow told The Standard.
He said the country has more than 1,000 forex bureau outlets with over 142 Central Bank licence holders.
“Out of these 142 licence holders, only 5% deal in foreign currency. The rest are just agents of money transfer operators under guided exchange rate regulations issued to us by the Central Bank. We report every dollar and foreign currency that is sold daily to the Central Bank. So if I buy US$100 today and sell it tomorrow, I will report it to the CBG. This is why the CBG is able to have an idea as to what we do. Otherwise, they would not have any data. It is disappointing that a politician will just get up and go to the country’s biggest newspaper and make claims that he cannot substantiate with facts.”
He said the NCP leader must have been “using the black market” for his transactions.
“This is where the problem is because the bureaus are usually there to sell foreign currency. But that is controlled by the Central Bank. We are properly regulated. So we have nothing to do with the heightening or the weakening of the dalasi.”
He said the number of bureaus in the country has nothing to do with the weakening or the strength of the dalasi.
“If anything, the number of bureaus has increased access to Gambians across the country. That saves time and money. So we are part and parcel of the system that makes financial inclusion possible,” he stated.
Jallow argued that the bureaus are well regulated.
He said just in 2024, they received revised guidelines aimed at strengthening their operations.
“The government has total control over the bureaus. And in fact, the bureaus are not even renewing their licence because it is not profitable for them anymore.”
He said the advent of mobile wallets has seriously impacted forex bureaus.
“The forex bureaus are subjected to CBG guidelines, paying taxes, education levy, rent and staff while the mobile money operators are not.”
Jallow also denied the NCP leader’s claims that several bureaus are operating without licence.
He said with one licence, a businessman can operate over 20 outlets.
“So it is not illegal to operate multiple branches as a bureau or licence holder.”
Further justifying his claims, Jallow said bureaus are making billions of total cash payouts every year.
He urged the NCP leader and Gambians to stop discriminating against their African brothers engaged in legitimate business and contributing significantly to the country’s economy and employment.
“The NCP leader claimed that most of the people operating these bureaus are non-Gambians with a primary aim of maximising profit, no matter how badly it will affect the people and the economy at large. This is very xenophobic,” the Alfob president condemned.
