In a statement read on his behalf by the deputy permanent secretary of the ministry, Dawda Sarge, he said: “Government is committed to working with all partners to identify, test and scale-up public-private partnership models in a systematic way. The additional investment generated by this approach should significantly accelerate progress towards growth and transformation of the Gambian economy. The Gambia in partnership with a number of other countries, is exploring the potential for a global finance exchange for social advancement.
“This exchange would serve as an online market place, a knowledge broker and accelerator of innovative blended-finance models.
“It could harness the skills, expertise and resources of public, private and not-for-profit sectors. It would help reduce the time required to structure investments and forge new partnerships,” he said.
Sarge spoke during a day’s policy conference which sought to set principles and standards that would guide NGO-private sector partnership for national development financing held at the Tango conference hall in Kanifing.
He urged partners to put all hands on deck as the agenda for development moves forward, which he says calls for support, expertise and commitment.
“We believe in partnership for development,” he said. “Although such partnerships must be grounded in inclusivity, transparency, accountability to build trust; focus on results to sustain engagement of all partners and aligning incentives between partners.”
In addition to successful partnerships, he said, imperfect partnership models also present important learning opportunities.
He said: “If we think about the financing gap for reaching vision 2020, PAGE, Vision 2016 and/or sustainable development goals, this could be part of the solution we need to leverage new sources of financing, turn millions into billions and end poverty while creating new investment opportunities for the private sector.”
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