The government has raised the stakes for domestic revenue mobilisation, tasking the Gambia Revenue Authority (GRA) to collect an unprecedented D27 billion in tax revenue in 2026, a target that will test both the strength of recent digital reforms and the political will to enforce compliance without fear or favour.
This bold directive comes on the back of GRA’s explosive performance in 2025, where collections surged towards D25 billion, confirming the Authority as the undisputed engine of government financing and narrowing the margin for excuses in the year ahead.
The Commissioner General of the Gambia Revenue Authority (GRA), Yankuba Darboe, told journalists yesterday that the authority collected D25.3 billion between 1st January and 31st December 2025, surpassing its annual revenue target of D23 billion.
CG Darboe attributed the improved revenue performance to ongoing digital transformation efforts, which he said have enhanced the effectiveness and efficiency of revenue collection.
Government’s instruction for GRA to deliver D27 billion in 2026 is not a routine adjustment; it is a calculated escalation that aims to push domestic tax mobilisation to new heights.
CG Darboe said the target which represents about 13 percent increase in tax revenue relative to the previous budget, signalled a firm policy choice to lean on domestic taxpayers rather than rely excessively on volatile external grants and expensive borrowing.
By anchoring the 2026 budget on a projected D27 billion tax haul, the Ministry of Finance is effectively telling GRA that the nation’s fiscal stability, salary bill, subsidies, and flagship projects now rest squarely on its ability to deliver.
This aggressive mandate is rooted in GRA’s recent performance, which has shattered earlier ceilings and removed any illusion that such figures are unattainable.
Tax revenue climbed from about D11.6 billion in 2022 to roughly D25 billion in 2025, a growth of more than 115 percent in just three years, driven by tougher enforcement and sweeping digitalisation.
Record-breaking collections in 2025—including historic monthly and quarterly figures—have emboldened policymakers to demand more.
The Authority has thus lost the cover of “low base performance”; its own success is now the benchmark used to justify higher, non-negotiable targets.
The government’s confidence is anchored in a new digital tax architecture that has fundamentally changed how taxes and customs duties are assessed, tracked, and enforced.
Systems such as ASYCUDA World at customs, the Single Window, fuel marking and digital stamp and the rollout of electronic invoicing for VAT are designed to close loopholes, minimise human discretion, and lock transactions into traceable, auditable systems.
On top of that, a revenue assurance solution focused on telecom excise is expected to boost collections in that sector by around 40 percent in 2026, while enhanced audits on major contractors are aimed at plugging long-standing compliance gaps in public works and corporate taxation.
These tools are no longer mere “projects”; they have become the hard infrastructure upon which the D27 billion target is premised, turning technology into a weapon against evasion and under-reporting.
Read more tomorrow.
