By Mohammed Jallow
In 2025, The Gambia stood not as a nation drifting in the undertow of circumstance, but as a republic consciously sculpting its narrative with deliberate intent, civic energy and economic assertiveness. The year unfolded like a meticulously sequenced ledger of national endeavor, punctuated by moments of institutional breakthrough, infrastructural acceleration, policy turbulence, social resilience and the audacious optimism of a people perennially determined to transcend inherited constraints. Across twelve months, the nation wrestled with complexity and yet consistently gravitated toward progress. In governance, commerce, civic activism, youth engagement, security, digital transformation, agriculture, diplomacy, tourism, health, education, culture, environmental stewardship and public finance, 2025 etched an unmistakable imprint of forward motion. As 2026 now approaches, the expectancy is neither naive nor abstract, but firmly anchored in an expanding pipeline of national commitments and regional opportunities.
January 2025: Fiscal momentum and institutional accountability
The year commenced amid a renewed emphasis on public revenue mobilisation and administrative discipline. The Gambia Revenue Authority, under the stewardship of Commissioner General Yankuba Darboe, signaled the tone for national financial ambition. While the celebrated announcement of surpassing the twenty three billion dalasi revenue target came later in the year, the groundwork for aggressive compliance strategies, digitised customs processes, expanded taxpayer education and interagency coordination was already visible. Ministries entered the year with sharpened execution timelines, cognisant of public scrutiny and budgetary limitations. Civil society actors began mobilising early around youth migration anxieties, institutional staffing concerns in financial bureaus, and accountability for unresolved security incidents from prior years. The judiciary reopened legal dockets with increased visibility, sustaining its post-transition reform momentum.
February 2025: Youth diplomacy, civic consciousness and the pulse of public dialogue
February radiated with civic introspection and youth centered mobilisation. Preparations intensified for the August 12, 2025 National Youth Dialogue at the OIC Hall, an initiative spearheaded by the Peace Network and the Banjul Youth Diplomat platform. Regional youth chairs, tertiary institutions and policy stakeholders converged in planning sessions that underscored peace-building, climate responsibility and national identity. Concurrently, the insurance sector executed a landmark staff retreat for IGI Gamstar Insurance from February 7 to 9, demonstrating private sector commitment to internal capacity strengthening, welfare reengineering and organisational coherence. Discourse around unfair administrative treatment in institutional branches, particularly within the financial bureau ecosystem, gained traction, exposing systemic staffing fragilities and compliance inconsistencies.
March 2025: Agricultural recalibration and trade facilitation advances
Agriculture and trade dominated the strategic conversation in March. Sunshine MnC Safe Ride, the taxi app initiative previously conceptualised by Mohammed Jallow, gained renewed interest from youth entrepreneurs studying platform economy models. Fertiliser distribution planning by SAFIA Multi Service Company Limited in Brikama indicated private sector responsiveness to regional agricultural cycles, particularly cross-border supply chains linking The Gambia, Senegal and Guinea Conakry. The Ministry of Agriculture expanded extension officer deployments ahead of the rainy season, while conversations around national import and export facilitation processes demonstrated International LLC’s sustained engagement as a liaison actor between global partners and government entities.
Expectations for improved seed systems, mechanization financing and regional livestock trade frameworks were articulated in sector communiqués.
April 2025: Change Management Narratives and Administrative Reform Discourse
April spotlighted public administration reform and change management narratives. Workshops on organisational transformation, welfare service redesign and administrative efficiency, including presentations earlier prepared by Mohammed Jallow, were referenced in policy conversations. Ministries reflected on service delivery bottlenecks, human resource policy modernisation, and branch staffing inequities in financial bureaus. The Ministry of Local Government sustained its decentralisation strengthening agenda, emphasising municipal revenue autonomy, waste management reforms and community development financing.
May 2025: Legal architecture, insurance sector governance and institutional legitimacy
The insurance sector and legal governance architecture surged to prominence in May. Legal drafting momentum around PEAMSIA Insurance Brokers Ltd and PEAMSIA Insurance Brokers’ Memorandum and Articles of Association underscored increasing sophistication in institutional structuring within the industry. The Cooperative Credit Union framework under the Insurance Association also saw renewed attention, aligning staff financial empowerment with sector stability. The judiciary and Registrar General’s office navigated increased documentation submissions, reflecting a national trend toward formalised institutional legitimacy.
June 2025: Migration anxiety, platform economies and public policy reckoning
June simmered with heightened national anxiety around illegal migration. My earlier advocacy narratives regarding my daughter’s tragic entanglement in the “back way” journey reverberated through youth policy forums, media commentaries and migration strategy debates. Calls for stronger border surveillance, enhanced consular diplomacy, expanded youth economic pathways and maritime safety frameworks dominated national platforms. Simultaneously, digital platform business models such as Sunshine MnC Safe Ride were referenced as examples of youth centered economic alternatives capable of internal revenue generation without dependency on traditional wage systems.
July 2025: Tourism renaissance preparations and cultural diplomacy flourish
July was defined by tourism renaissance preparations and cultural diplomacy. The Ministry of Tourism and Culture expanded destination branding ahead of the peak season. Local creatives, griots, heritage custodians and festival organizers intensified planning for winter tourism experiences. Regional liaison engagements by Axis Global Consulting & Trade, a firm wholly founded by Mohammed Jallow, were referenced in trade and tourism facilitation dialogues, underscoring the expanding private sector role in continental service linkages.
August 2025: The national youth dialogue and the confluence of generational voice
August emerged as the civic crescendo. On August 12, 2025, the OIC Hall bore witness to an extraordinary congregation of 400 Gambian youths at the National Youth Dialogue. It was not merely an event but a generational manifesto. The theme, “The Component of Peace-building and the Role of Young People,” was explored with intellectual gravity, moral urgency and nationalistic fervor. Ministries, policy advisors, youth chairs and peace-building actors encountered a citizenry that refused passivity. Climate change, illegal migration, unemployment, identity, institutional staffing fairness, and public administration reform were interrogated with maturity beyond age. The national consensus was clear: youth are not peripheral spectators but principal shareholders in the Gambian state.
September 2025: Fintech discourse, digital transformation and trade negotiations
September advanced fintech and digital transformation. Earlier negotiations by Mohammed Jallow with local firms around consulting, recruitment, fintech liaison services and international trade facilitation resurfaced in strategic business circles. Conversations around domain modernisation for mncinternationalllc.org emphasised the importance of updated digital identities, trial hosting systems and international standards in web presence.
October 2025: Economic stocktaking and private sector reconfiguration
October introduced economic stocktaking. Private sector actors recalibrated service models, internal revenue strategies and cross-regional expectations. Training calendar collaborations between Peace Network and MnC International LLC earlier conceptualised by Mohammed Jallow were referenced in capacity development discourse.
November 2025: Regional Concessions, Ports.
Diplomacy and institutional integrity
November echoed with debates around ports concession integrity. The Gambia Ports Authority’s Albayrak concession framework was defended robustly by institutional actors as the most comprehensive in the subregion, considering bonds, commitments and infrastructural obligations. National dialogue also examined central bank staffing concerns, financial bureau compliance and administrative accountability.
December 2025: The triumph of public finance and the symbolism of national possibility
In December, Commissioner General Yankuba Darboe delivered the definitive pronouncement: The Gambia Revenue Authority collected twenty three billion dalasis in 2025, surpassing its annual target. This was more than fiscal arithmetic. It was symbolic vindication of a nation’s capacity for revenue sovereignty, digital customs modernisation, taxpayer compliance expansion, administrative coherence and institutional ambition. For a nation historically depicted through the vocabulary of fragility, this moment resounded as a rebuttal written in numbers, policy execution and institutional dignity.
The Cross-sectoral Imprint of 2025
Governance reforms advanced through public finance transparency and judicial visibility. Agriculture reflected private sector alignment with regional trade cycles. Fintech dialogues elevated digital transformation expectations. Youth diplomacy emerged as the soul of national recalibration. Tourism expanded cultural diplomacy and destination branding. Legal documentation momentum strengthened institutional legitimacy in insurance and trade. Security debates demanded improved staffing equity, compliance integrity and border surveillance. Digital identity modernisation underscored the importance of international standards in national service platforms.
Expectations for 2026: The arc of national continuity and strategic anticipation
The horizon of 2026 is densely populated with national expectation. The insurance industry will deepen cooperative credit empowerment, welfare service redesign and institutional governance modernisation. Agriculture will scale mechanisation financing, seed system improvements, livestock trade formalisation and crossborder fertiliser supply frameworks. Tourism will amplify destination branding, festival economies and cultural diplomacy linkages across Africa, Asia and the United States, regions in which Axis Global Consulting & Trade intends to operate. Youth policy will pivot toward expanded economic pathways capable of discouraging illegal migration. Fintech platforms will accelerate digital payment adoption, compliance systems and global liaison facilitation models.
Most critically, the government must heed the youth manifesto of 2025: staffing equity in institutional branches, enforcement of financial bureau compliance, maritime safety, consular diplomacy, and economic alternatives for young Gambians must be central to national planning. The nation has demonstrated it can surpass targets, recruit without formal blueprints, negotiate across regions, build digital identities and convene generational consensus. The question for 2026 is not whether The Gambia can advance, but how rapidly it chooses to do so.
The Gambia in 2025 did not ask permission to progress. It progressed. The Gambia in 2026 must not ask whether it is ready. It must continue the stride.
