By Alagie Manneh
The Gambia has at last been categorised by the US among countries said to have achieved the “minimum requirements” in its annual Fiscal Transparency Report.
The country failed to meet the requirements for two years, leading the US State Department, which conducts the annual report, to describe it as not fiscally transparent.
However, in its 2021 Fiscal Transparency Report, the Department found The Gambia among 74 of the 141 governments it reviewed to have met minimum requirements of fiscal transparency.
“Two governments, Nigeria and The Gambia, met minimum requirements in 2021 after not meeting minimum requirements in 2020,” the State Department said.
It added that 67 governments did not meet the minimum requirements of fiscal transparency. “Of these 67, however, 17 governments made significant progress toward meeting the minimum requirements of fiscal transparency.”
In 2019, The Gambia was classified by the US among countries whose budgeting process, including its contracting and licensing processes in the extractive industry, failed to meet the standards required of the American government.
Burkina Faso, Cabo Verde, Ghana and Kenya are among some of the African countries assessed by the Department in its latest report to have met the minimum requirements.
